Feb 23 (Reuters) - Australia's Lendlease Group swung to a first-half loss on Monday, hurt by investment property revaluations and impairments, sending its shares to a near four-decade low.
Shares of the property developer fell as much as 9.17% to A$4.160, their lowest level since mid-December 1987. The stock also logged its steepest intraday percentage decline since February 19, 2024.
The broader benchmark ASX200 slipped 0.7% by comparison.
The group posted a loss after tax attributable of A$318 million
($224.86 million) for the half-year ended December 31, compared with a profit of A$48 million a year earlier.
The company booked A$118 million in non-cash negative revaluations and impairments on investment property, mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
Lendlease reported an operating loss after tax of A$200 million, which included A$87 million in profit from its Investments, Development and Construction (IDC) arm and a A$287 million loss from its Capital Release unit.
Within IDC, lower earnings contributions from Investments and Development were partially offset by a turnaround in Construction earnings, which swung to A$69 million operating profit from A$25 million loss a year earlier, driven by higher revenue and improved project performance.
Chief Executive Tony Lombardo, calling fiscal 2026 a "transitional year", said the group expects IDC earnings to strengthen through the second half and into fiscal 2027.
The company reaffirmed its full‑year guidance for IDC segment of 28-34 Australian cents per share, supported by expected transactional gains.
The company declared an interim distribution of 6.2 Australian cents per share, up from 6 cents a year earlier.
($1 = 1.4142 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Eileen Soreng)
