Real estate investor and fund manager Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell) has completed the conversion of a multi-bank, $1.2 billion lending facility to a sustainability linked loan that includes ambitious targets in reducing emissions and its gender pay gap.

Central to the new loan structure is:

• Greenhouse gas reductions, in line with Cromwell’s target for net zero scope 3 emissions by 2045, to reinforce Cromwell’s position as an industry leader in reducing scope 3 emissions.
• Additional targets linked to Cromwell’s target of net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035.
• To reduce Cromwell’s gender pay gap to a maximum of 12% by 2028.

Cromwell’s Group Head of ESG, Lara Young, confirmed the new loan was developed with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and multinational financial services company Societe Generale acting as sustainability coordinators.

Ms. Young said that the new sustainability linked loan has created an opportunity to highlight the business’s focus on several critical topics, as part of its broader environmental, sustainability, and governance policy.

“As part of our ESG report release in January, Cromwell announced our full scope 3 emissions inventory for the first time, becoming one of the few Australian commercial property organisations to publish an emissions footprint across 100% of our global network and supply chain,” said Ms. Young.

“Building on that announcement, we have been working with tenants and suppliers across all our upstream and downstream business activities – covering our entire supply chain of tenant activities; funds under management; joint ventures; and embodied carbon sources –  to stretch our net zero approach beyond our operational control.

“The progression we have made in this space has allowed us to set our most ambitious target to date, as part of this new sustainability linked loan – to reduce scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions intensity to equal, or less than, 30.16 (kgCO2e/m2) by 2028.

“This is equal to eliminating more than 4.4 million kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (KgCO2e) – or emissions from 784 households – by 2028, against the 2023 baseline.”

Cromwell aims to achieve this goal through a multi-purpose approach, including encouraging tenants to switch to renewable electricity, and providing tenant support through waste stream signage and education – in order to reduce their landfill waste and contamination.

“Importantly, by leveraging sustainability linked debt at the same time as meeting important social milestones, Cromwell Property Group can move significantly closer to meeting our current and future ESG responsibilities, including a Cromwell portfolio Net Zero Scope 1 and 2 target by 2035,” said Ms. Young.

In addition to emissions reductions targets, Cromwell seeks to reduce its gender pay gap to a maximum of 12% by 2028. This target forms part of Cromwell’s broader diversity commitments, which include maintaining pay parity across all roles, and maintaining 40:40:20 gender targets across all leadership levels within the organisation.

The loan is aligned with both the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) Green Loan Principles, as well as the APLMA Sustainability Linked Loan Principles.

CBA General Manager Major Client Group, Jon Coombes, said: “we’re really proud to support Cromwell Property Group on its sustainability journey and commitment to high-quality, energy efficient buildings that will continue to benefit Australians for years to come.”

“The portfolio of assets already met the high standards for a green loan, yet Cromwell’s desire to set even more ambitious environmental targets within the loan structure demonstrates their leadership, and recognises that the journey to net-zero is a continuous one.

“This innovative green sustainability linked loan is a great example of making ambitious commitments towards to a more sustainable future and an example of how sustainable finance products can be used to not only support, but drive sustainable outcomes.”

Tessa Dann, Head of Sustainable Finance for Australia and New Zealand at Societe Generale commented that: “Societe Generale is proud to have supported Cromwell in this innovative transaction, combining green loan and sustainability linked loan requirements. Such transactions are rare in the sustainable finance market, but a natural fit for Cromwell to showcase their ESG ambitions”

“Acting as sustainability coordinator demonstrates Societe Generale’s longstanding commitment to supporting the green transition, in this instance in the commercial real estate sector. We believe this serves as an excellent example to encourage more action on the reduction of scope 3 emissions in particular.”

Highlights

• Cromwell sells the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF) for €285million / $465 million to Star Capital Finance (SCF), in line with asset valuations announced at HY24 results.
• The sale aligns with Cromwell’s strategy to simplify the Group by divesting of non-core investments.
• The transaction contracted and settled concurrently in Europe on 15 May 2024.
• Sale proceeds will initially be used to repay debt, reducing headline gearing to approximately 35%^[1] (look through 42%¹).

Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell or the Group), today announces the sale of six retail centres across Poland, held by the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund for €285 million / $465 million, which is in line with asset valuations announced at HY24 results. The purchaser, SCF, is a diverse real estate investor based in Prague, Czechia.

This follows the sale of Cromwell’s 50% share of its joint venture retail asset in Ursynów, Poland, which completed on 29 February 2024, to joint venture partner Unibail Rodamco for €41.5 million / $69 million.

These transactions are a crucial step in the Group’s continued simplification through the sale of non-core assets to de-risk the business, reduce gearing and realign to Cromwell’s core fund and asset management capabilities.

Upon completion of the sale of CPRF, Cromwell will have completed $1.1 billion in asset sales since commencement of the Group’s asset sale programme in late 2021, positioning the Group to explore value accretive opportunities and continue its transition to a capital-light funds management model.

Following completion, the Group’s headline gearing reduces to approximately 35%¹ (look through 42%¹), well within the Groups target range of 30-40%. Cromwell estimates that the sale will have a proforma earnings impact of -3%^[2] and there will be no impact to adjusted funds from operations (AFFO)².

CEO Jonathan Callaghan commented, “The completion of this sale, and subsequent debt repayment, significantly simplifies our business, bringing us closer to our goal of being a capital-light fund manager. The simplification of the Group’s business model will allow us to focus on our core fund and asset management skills to drive long-term securityholder value from growth initiatives locally when market timing is conducive.”

^[1] Proforma gearing after assets sold or currently contracted for sale.

^[2] Based on FY24 proforma earnings / AFFO.

Real estate investor and fund manager Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell) has completed a ‘Sydney first’ facility upgrade of its 1970s-era Rawson Place property in Haymarket.

The 24-storey McKell Building has undergone a 12-month, multi-million-dollar conversion of its outdated commercial gas-fired heating system to an electric heat-recovery reverse cycle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

It is the first time that a multistorey, 25,000sqm commercial building in the Sydney CBD has had an electrification upgrade of this kind.

Cromwell’s Head of Property Operations, Tessa Morrison, said the successful completion of the multi-faceted infrastructure upgrade – on time and on budget – was a credit to the project team, which worked alongside mechanical engineering firm, GWA, and mechanical contractor, Velocity Air.

“We are delighted to announce the completion of this project today,” said Ms. Morrison, “the McKell Building electrification upgrade will ‘future-proof’ this asset for years to come through the use of modern, energy saving equipment.”

“The building has held a NABERS 5.5 Star energy rating for the past two years – so, while it is already significantly energy efficient, we have been able to undertake works that will further reduce emissions and drive energy efficiencies. We estimate that we will achieve an initial 5% energy reduction of the total base building electricity consumption through the installation of the heat recovery chiller.”

“Importantly, the completion of this project reinforces Cromwell’s commitment to deliver sustainable outcomes that align with our proposed Net Zero target for operational control buildings by 2035.”

Efficiencies in the new reverse cycle HVAC system will mean that hot air removed as part of the building’s air conditioning process will be recycled back into the system for use elsewhere, including heating the building’s water.

The new reverse cycle system will also be able to be programmed for seasonal efficiency, meaning reduced energy consumption throughout the year.

Ms Morrison said that some unique logistical challenges were encountered during the process; however, a 400-tonne crane was used by the team to help complete the project.

“Three 9.3-tonne air conditioning systems were lifted onto the building’s roof from street level, as well as support beams weighing more than 3.2-tonnes combined, and buffer tanks with a combined weight of more than 1.6-tonnes,” said Ms. Morrison.

“The coordination between Cromwell project team members, contractors, suppliers, and building tenants to achieve this outcome has been incredible.”

Cromwell acquired the McKell Building in June 2013, and the property is solely occupied by a NSW Government tenant.

Overview

• Statutory loss of $271.4 million (HY23 $129.5 million loss), impacted by a $240.2 million decline in property valuations
• Operating profit of $83.7 million (HY23 $87.1 million), equivalent to 3.2 cents per security, was marginally down as a result of asset sales
• On a like-for-like basis, Net Operating Income of the Australian Investment Portfolio was up 1%
• HY24 distributions of 1.58 cents per security, reflects a payout ratio on adjusted funds from operations (‘AFFO’) of 62.6%
• Net Tangible Assets per security of $0.72 (FY23 $0.84), with gearing at 44.7% (FY23 42.6%)
• Total assets under management of $11.4 billion (FY23 $11.5 billion)
• Investment portfolio occupancy of 93.4%, with a WALE of 5.3 years
• Leasing markets remain active, with key leasing initiatives keeping occupancy strong

Continued focus on debt reduction and delivering stable income returns.

Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell), today announces its results for the half-year ending 31 December 2023.

Persistent pressure on valuations both locally and in Europe was the major contributor to the statutory performance of the business and the decline in net tangible assets. In the six months to 31 December 2023, there were unrealised fair value reductions of $195.7 million (-7.5%) across the Australian Investment Portfolio and $44.5 million (-8.1%) for the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF) Sale Portfolio¹.

Cromwell commenced its asset sale programme in late 2021, prior to the expansion of capitalisation rates. Since then, we have completed or contracted over $584 million of asset sales, largely at or above book value, with a further $528 million anticipated to complete by June 2024, totalling $1.1 billion.

At the commencement of Cromwell’s asset sale programme, gearing was outside target range at 41.8%. The $584 million of completed or contracted assets sales has mitigated the impact of market valuation declines, however gearing still sits outside target range at 44.7%. On completion of the sale of CPRF, gearing is expected to return to within target range at 34.1%.

Dr Gary Weiss, Cromwell Chair, commented: “The current operating environment continues to be challenging with higher interest rates impacting the real estate sector. We remain focused on strengthening our balance sheet through prudent capital management and lowering our net debt position.

Despite the challenges, we continue to drive positive like-for-like net operating income growth and maintain solid occupancy rates across Cromwell’s Australian Investment Portfolio. In Europe, the funds management business contributed to earnings growth through mandate investments, notwithstanding restrained transaction volumes.”

The Australian Investment Portfolio

Like-for-like net operating income in the Australian Investment Portfolio was up 1%, reinforcing the ongoing income stability of the portfolio through the current market cycle. Operating earnings were down 3.2% on the prior corresponding period to $78.0 million, driven by asset sales, which was partially offset by an uplift in rental income.

Occupancy and weighted average lease expiry remained healthy at 93.4% and 5.3 years respectively. This high-quality portfolio offers attractive sustainability credentials and strong tenant relationships, which resulted in continued leasing success with approximately 12,000 sqm leased over the period.

While the trend towards flexible working arrangements has presented a challenge for landlords of office property, the market shows signs of stabilising, with evidence of stronger leasing demand from small to medium-sized occupiers, who made up the bulk of the new leases signed throughout the period.

Fund and Asset Management

Third party assets under management were $8.3 billion made up of $5.9 billion assets under management in Europe and $2.4 billion in Australia and New Zealand.

In Europe, earnings were up 36.2% on HY2023 due to higher leasing fees and positive foreign exchange impacts. Cromwell remains an active buyer, with new mandates from institutional capital partners for logistics assets, while the Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT) continues its pivot to owning majority logistics assets, leveraging continued tenant demand for this asset class.

Locally, Australian and New Zealand fund management activities slowed somewhat, with more limited inflows and valuation declines impacting Cromwell’s fund management fees.

Co-investments

The Cromwell Direct Property Fund has been impacted by 8.4% valuation headwinds, with Cromwell’s 4.2% position in the fund valued at $13.6 million. Distributions for the period remained consistent at $0.5 million.

The share of operating profit from Cromwell’s 27.8% holding in CEREIT was marginally up at $20.3 million. Over the 6 months, the value of CEREIT’s portfolio was down marginally to €2.3 billion
(-1.5%). Income grew 4.1% over the prior corresponding period on a like-for-like basis and leasing renewals drove a 5.7% increase in total portfolio rent reversion.

The Cromwell Italy Urban Logistics Fund continues to provide stable returns from the sole tenant, DHL, returning a $1.0 million share of earnings for the half-year, following the completion of a 50% sale to a joint venture partner.

CPRF portfolio income was up 31.3%, underpinned by higher rental income and positive foreign exchange movements over the six months. The sale of the CPRF Sale Portfolio² is ongoing with a letter of intent signed and the purchaser having made a binding commitment to complete the deal on agreed terms subject to finance and no material adverse changes, backed by a material deposit. Cromwell anticipates completion on agreed terms in fourth quarter of financial year ended 30 June 2024.

Outlook

Commenting on the outlook Jonathan Callaghan, Cromwell Chief Executive Officer, said: “The remainder of the financial year will focus on business simplification and completing the current stage of our asset sale programme, including the sale of CPRF.

“We remain committed to preserving and growing securityholder value over time. Our core priority is to have a strong balance sheet by continuing to reduce debt to alleviate gearing pressures, along with ensuring we can continue to deliver stable income from our investments.

“As the market starts to recover, we anticipate being in a position to explore value accretive opportunities to provide longer term growth for our securityholders,” he said.

To view the HY24 Results Presentation, click here.

^{1 Represents CPRF assets for sale, excluding Ursynów.
2 Represents Cromwell Polish Retail Fund assets for sale, excluding Ursynów.}

Real estate investor and fund manager Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) has today released for the first time its full scope 3 emissions inventory, becoming one of the few Australian commercial property organisations to publish its emissions footprint across 100% of its global network and supply chain.

The inventory release covers all Cromwell scope 3 emissions across upstream and downstream activities, covering its entire supply chain of tenant activities; funds under management; joint ventures; and embodied carbon sources. It goes further than general sector reporting practices, where disclosure is often limited to scope 3 emissions where a company possesses operational control.

Alongside the disclosure of its scope 3 emissions inventory, Cromwell has today also released new short and long-term emission reduction targets which will help underpin future decarbonisation efforts.

This includes a net zero target across Cromwell’s entire portfolio for scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2045, which includes tenant emissions and embodied carbon. In addition, Cromwell has also set a short-term target of a 42% reduction in scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030, along with a net zero target for new developments by 2030 and 2035 for all assets under Cromwell’s operational control.

Group Head of ESG, Lara Young, said: “Developing a full scope 3 inventory provides us with an accurate and meaningful picture of all emissions across our supply chain for the first time. It enables us to make more informed investment decisions on decarbonisation activities, working with our partners.

“Specifically, we have now shifted our focus to asset-level decarbonisation. In the last year, we have started to undertake assessments at specific sites to identify emissions sources and create bespoke plans to reduce these emissions, which we will do working in partnership with our service providers. We’ll continue this process going forward.”

ESG Report

The information above has been released today as part of Cromwell’s FY23 ESG Report. The full report can be found here.
In summary, the ESG Report highlights Cromwell’s long-term targets which include:

• Achieve net zero operational emissions (scope 1 & 2) by 2035.
• Achieve net zero operational emissions for the entire portfolio (scopes 1, 2, & 3) including tenant and embodied carbon by 2045.
• Significantly reduce our gender pay gap year on year.
• Achieve 40:40:20 workplace gender diversity at all levels.
• Integrate ESG into risk registers and business strategy, including objectives and key results.

“Cromwell recognises the challenges that the property industry faces; however, we also recognise the opportunity to deliver tangible positive impacts. The Group has a global in-house ESG team and dedicated Australian and European teams that support all Cromwell activities,” said Ms. Young.

Real estate investor and fund manager, Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell), has announced its current Fund Manager and Executive Team member, Michelle Dance, will be promoted to the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from Monday, 1 January 2024.

The appointment follows a comprehensive search process, which included a strong field of external and internal candidates.

Ms. Dance brings more than three decades of corporate experience to the role, having held high-profile positions at some of Australia’s largest real estate and financial institutions.

Commenting on the appointment, Cromwell Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Callaghan said: “We are delighted to welcome Michelle into the role of Cromwell CFO from January. She is an established professional within our business who has an impressive financial and real estate background. Michelle’s well-honed treasury skill set, and long history of successfully managing significant debt portfolios through several market cycles, will be crucial in helping us meet our strategic objectives.”

Ms Dance added: “I look forward to using my experience to drive Cromwell’s financial strategy and performance to become a capital light fund manager. I’m grateful for the opportunity to progress my career further with Cromwell; a company that welcomes new perspectives and open discussion. Using our shared values as a foundation, I will work with my colleagues to continue to build strength in the Group’s balance sheet to drive the business forward.”

Michelle will be supported by seasoned financial professional Andrew Pallas, who will be promoted to Deputy Chief Financial Officer from 1 January 2024.

Her previous roles have included Treasurer for AMP Capital Investor’s Listed Property division; Group Executive, Corporate Finance and Strategy at Investa Property Group; Head of Capital at Leighton Properties; Executive Director of Institutional Real Estate for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Prior to joining Cromwell as Fund Manager for Cromwell’s Australian office portfolio in March 2022, Ms. Dance was Fund Manager for the Dexus Office Partnership, a A$5.3billion joint venture between Dexus and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

Michelle holds a Master of Commerce, majoring in Economics and Finance, has been a regular lecturer in Real Estate Finance at the University of Technology Sydney, and is currently Chair of the Board of the Sydney Skin Hospital.

Real estate investor and fund manager Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell or Group) today announced the reorganisation of its European operations to be more aligned with its investors’ strategies, and to improve efficiency in the current challenging market environment.

The reorganisation involves the creation of a regional structure comprising two European regions, which will be headed by Pontus Flemme Gärdsell for Northern Europe, and by Michael Bohde for Southern Europe, both reporting directly to Andy Creighton, Head of Investment Management, Europe. These two regions will replace the former structure, where each country had its own country head.

Pontus will be responsible for managing Cromwell’s investment and asset management activities in the Nordics, the Netherlands, the UK and CEE while Michael will be responsible for managing Germany, France and Italy.

Commenting on the changes, Pertti Vanhanen, Managing Director, Europe at Cromwell Property Group, said: “By streamlining our European business, we will be able to provide a greater focus on the countries our investors are showing most interest in. It will also enable us to improve operational efficiencies in the current challenging macro-economic environment, providing our clients with more integrated cross-border investment and asset management services”.

In the past 18 months, Cromwell has been active across Europe and the UK servicing longstanding mandates with clients such as CEREIT, the Singapore-listed REIT, as well as several new international mandates and marketing new strategies to investors.

Vanhanen, added: “Since the onset of higher interest rates, the market has changed significantly as investors and managers adjust strategies to cope with the higher cost of finance and structural changes impacting the sector. Foremost among these are how we improve the sustainability and carbon footprint of real estate assets and how we reposition buildings in sectors like offices where behaviours have changed”.

Cromwell has made significant progress in these areas, implementing a sustainable finance framework to support the transition to more sustainable borrowing across its portfolio and is currently premarketing a value-add office repositioning strategy in the UK.

Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell), today announces its results for the full year ending 30 June 2023 (FY23).

Overview

• Statutory loss of $443.8 million (FY22 $263.2 million profit), driven by a decline in property valuations of $491.6 million;
• Operating profit of $158.6 million (FY22 $201.0 million), equivalent to 6.06 cents per security;
• On a like-for-like basis, excluding asset sales, Net Operating Income of the Australian Investment Portfolio grew by 3.9%;
• FY23 distributions of 5.5 cents per security, for a payout ratio on operating profit of 90.8%;
• Net Tangible Assets of $0.84 (FY22 $1.04), with gearing at 42.6% (FY22 39.6%);
• Total assets under management of $11.5 billion (FY22 $12 billion);
• Funds managed in Europe grew to $5.5 billion as mandates deployed through asset acquisitions; and
• Investment portfolio occupancy of 94.6%, with a WALE of 5.3 years.

Outlook

Commenting on the outlook, Cromwell CEO Jonathan Callaghan said: “We remain fully committed to our strategy. We have a clear focus on simplification of the Group structure, growing our funds management platform through transactions like that proposed with Australian Unity Diversified Property Fund, reducing gearing and interest costs, strengthening our investment portfolio through active management and leasing initiatives and delivering on our ongoing commitment to ESG.

“We will continue to take a measured approach to capital recycling to drive value accretive growth as opportunities arise. Our transition to a capital light funds management model remains a priority when capital markets are more conducive,” he said.

To view the FY23 Results Presentation, click here.