Financial Reports

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The listed real estate firm The Agency slumped to further losses in FY2020 as they announce they are actively pursuing a joint venture.
The Agency advise it will help drive agent recruitment and sales revenue.
There was certainly some goods news from The Agency's financial update.
Their EBITDA of $711,714 was the first time the company posted a positive EBITDA, a $4.9 million turnaround from the FY19 EBITDA loss of $4.25 million.
Annual group revenue rose 48 per cent from $28.34 million to $41.86 million, mainly down to the 26 per cent increase year on year in combined gross commission income.
 <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2020/8/31/Annual%20Group%20Revenue.jpg" alt="">
Sales were up to 3,153 over FY20, from 2,419 in FY19.
The total losses however grew to $10.36 million, up on its $9.26 million loss in 2019.
The ASX note to shareholders advised however that losses were primarily impacted by depreciation and amortisation (over $6 million) and impairment of goodwill ($5.3 million).
"The board has taken a conservative view on the review of its goodwill on historical acquisitions and believed it was appropriate to impair by $5.3 million for FY2020, in light of market uncertainty as a result of COVID-19", the ASX update said.
 <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2020/8/31/New%20listings.jpg" alt="">
Salaries and employment costs blew out over the year, up from $24 million in FY19 to $31 million in FY20.
They secured $1.08 million in government assistance which was lower than the McGrath benefit of $2.2 million.
The Agency Group’s managing director Paul Niardone said he is proud of the company performance over the year.
"To report a maiden EBITDA profit, positive cashflow, a strong gain in revenue and other key metrics is a major achievement and testament to the hard work and dedication of our agents and our staff, especially when considering the impact of COVID-19", Niardone said.
“Our quick response to COVID-19 has placed us in an enviable position, allowing us to rebound strongly in key markets.
"We have generated a strong sales pipeline which has flown through into the first quarter FY21 with a record 446 listings for July 2020."
The Agency shares last traded at 2.8c. 
 
 
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jrobinson-rf4aSBido9

The Agency pursue joint venture opportunities, posting revenue spike but continued losses due to write-downs

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CBRE's 2016 annual results reveals its pre-tax operating profit fell 30 percent in 2016.
Directors advised the reported pre-tax operating profit of $37,573,000 represents a 30.3 percent decrease on the 2015 reported pretax operating profit of $53,886,000.
The consolidated net profit of the estate agency after income tax was $24,909,000 down on the $36,910,000 in 2015.
The group revenue sat at $488 million, up only slightly on the $475 million of the 2015 calendar year.
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EBITDA fell to $60,281,000 from $63,923,000. 
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Trade receivables sit higher at $130 million.
There was no dividend paid or declared by the company, which employed 1870 staff, nor any significant changes in the state of affairs of the group.
CBRE Pty Limited is a private company domiciled in Australia.
The immediate parent entity of CBRE Pty Limited is Relam Amsterdam Holdings, and the ultimate parent entity of CBRE Pty Limited is CBRE Group, Inc. incorporated in the United States of America. 
Loans from related parties comprise loans provided by CBRE Luxembourg Finance for $17,237,000, up from $16,462,000 in 2015. 
The consolidated financial statements of CBRE Pty Limited, and its controlled entities for the financial year ended 31 December 2016 were lodged with ASIC this week, after being signed off by new board appointee Jamie Maione. 
CBRE advised an APAC operating entity sits under the CBRE Pty Ltd reporting group and a number of costs borne in that entity were related to financial adjustments in Asia (not Pacific).
After initial publication of the results on Property Observer, commentary was supplied from Ray Pittman, President &amp; CEO, Pacific who advised CBRE’s Pacific business recorded gross revenue growth of 7% in local currency in Q1 2017 relative to the corresponding quarter in 2016.
"This followed record revenue growth in the previous quarter and was against a backdrop of constrained capital markets activity in the institutional sector. 
"CBRE’s strong performance was driven by both our brokerage and professional services teams." 
He advised standouts included the performance of our Advisory &amp; Transaction Services business lines, with our industrial and office leasing teams recording particularly strong revenue growth of more than 70%. 
"Solid revenue growth was also recorded by our residential and commercial valuations businesses and by our Asset Services and Global Workplace Solutions teams," he said.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

CBRE profit dives 30 percent

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Dexus made a half yearly net profit after tax of $726.4 million, down 27%, mainly due to net revaluation gains of investment properties being lower, according to their half year results.
The funds from operation, the more accurate measure for real estate investment trusts, was $353 million, up 9.8 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
They have restated a goal/guidance for distribution per security growth of circa 5% for FY2019.
Dexus Chief Executive Officer, Darren Steinberg said it had been a productive six-month period where the company added value through enhancing our development pipeline and attracting new investors to our funds management business.
"This has all been achieved while maintaining low balance sheet gearing."
“In our office portfolio we continue to outperform the MSCI office benchmark over one, three and five years through driving higher rents and lower incentives, particularly in Sydney which has been reflected in property valuations during the period."
“In our funds management business, we now have $15 billion under management with investors and partners that can invest alongside us through the cycle, reinforcing our objective of being the wholesale partner of choice in Australian property,” he concluded.
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2019/2/6/Dexus%20Office%20Portfolio.JPG" alt="">
Funds from Operations (FFO) reached $353.3 million, up 9.8% on the previous corresponding period.
Gearing was down to 23.7% from 24.1% at 30 June 2018.
There was a one-year unlevered total return of 13% in the Dexus office portfolio and 15.5% in the Dexus industrial portfolio
Office portfolio occupancy increased to 97.3% with Sydney office leasing spreads of +18%.
The group’s $5.2 billion development pipeline progressed, replenishing both the industrial and office development pipelines.
Dexus established a new circa $2 billion unlisted trust that invests in Australian logistics properties seeded from Dexus’s existing portfolio.
They delivered $34.7 million of trading profits (post-tax).
Dexus shares closed up 1¢ to $11.85 per security.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Dexus net profit down 27% due to revaluation on investment properties

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ASIC notes the decisions by Mustera Property Group Limited (Mustera) to reflect the following changes through its financial report for the half-year ended 31 December 2018:
<ul>
<li>reclassify its non-controlling interest in the Mustera Property Fund (the Fund) from equity to a liability, reducing reported net assets by $7.1 million as at 30 June 2018; and</li>
<li>make additional disclosure on transactions with a related party during the year ended 30 June 2018.</li>
</ul>
ASIC had raised concerns on the treatment of the non-controlling interest in the Fund as equity rather than a liability in Mustera’s financial report for the year ended 30 June 2018, as well as the relationship and transactions with a related party during the year. 
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jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

Mustera Property Group restates net assets and discloses related party transactions

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Westpac can expect a bumper turnout of shareholders at its annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, many of them angry at its alleged role in <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/20191120%20Westpac%20Concise%20Statement%20FILED%2019008953.pdf" target="_blank">facilitating child exploitation</a> in the Philippines, its 23 million alleged breaches of anti-money-laundering laws, and its initial ritualistic response to the allegations.
This included donating <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/media_release_response_plan.pdf" target="_blank">A$18 million</a> to an anti sexual exploitation charity, followed by the <a href="https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20191126/pdf/44by46ysjf6w06.pdf" target="_blank">departure of its chief executive</a> and the foreshadowed departure of its chairman later in the year.
Some of those shareholders will be clutching the bank’s <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/ic/2019_Westpac_Group_Full_Year_Financials.pdf" target="_blank">154-page financial statement</a>. They’ll need to understand it to ask questions about Westpac’s financial performance.
Back at the start of the 2000s, Westpac’s financial statement was only <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/ic/res0900.pdf" target="_blank">35 pages</a>.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305578/original/file-20191206-183400-xd8mu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305578/original/file-20191206-183400-xd8mu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
 ‘Help when it matters’. <a class="source" href="https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/ic/2019_Westpac_Group_Full_Year_Financials.pdf" target="_blank">Westpac's 154 page statement of financial results.</a>
Much of what’s been added to statements such as Westpac’s has been in response to the threat of litigation. Companies making false or misleading disclosures risk class actions. It’s safer to include more rather than less, even if it makes the total hard to navigate.
Australia has just had its <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australias-first-securities-class-action-judgment-sort-of-cleared-myer-125925" target="_blank">first class action judgement</a>, after earlier cases that had been settled out of court. The United States has had many.
My own research with colleagues in the United States finds that caution in the face of the threat of litigation has made financial reports <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3478994" target="_blank">increasingly less readable</a> over time.
How might litigation make reports harder to read?
Firms can be sued for making misleading disclosures. This happens most often where shareholders allege that the firm failed to disclose all relevant information, or where it has failed to meet projections.
After such class actions, firms can face increasing difficulties with customers, suppliers and lenders, being seen as less credible. Managers face <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2011.09.001" target="_blank">pay cuts and termination</a>.
One way to head off such class actions is to make disclosures more detailed.
Increasing detail enables firms to add caveats, footnotes and nuance, conveying uncertainty – the consequence of which is that their reports are less clear.
How we teased out the link
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305596/original/file-20191206-90609-eomrtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305596/original/file-20191206-90609-eomrtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
<a class="source" href="http://gunning-fog-index.com/" target="_blank">The Gunning Fog Index for this article</a>
My coauthors and I examined 96,000 US annual reports issued between 1993 to 2013.
We also collected data on class actions in relation to reports for those years.
One of the best readability metrics is the so-called <a href="http://gunning-fog-index.com/" target="_blank">fog index</a>, which measures the number of syllables per word and words per sentence in order to provide a measure of the number of years of education needed to read a statement.
It says this article needs the best part of 15 years.
We also used other indexes including the so-called <a href="http://stylewriter-usa.com/stylewriter-editing-readability.php" target="_blank">bog index</a> which scores documents on word choice and sentence structure.
We captured firms’ tendency to avoid declarative statements by calculating the proportion of words that were “<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3478994" target="_blank">uncertain</a>”, and measured their tendency to address specific legal threats by calculating the proportion of words that were legal in nature, both of which were subjective exercises.
What we found
We found litigation risk encouraged firms to take steps that reduced the readability of their financial reports.
After firms had experienced a class action, their readability metrics worsened significantly. This was even the case several years after that class action, suggesting a long-lasting change.
We found if a chief executive had experienced a class action at one job, their reports were likely to be less readable in subsequent jobs, strongly suggesting that litigation drove hard to read reports rather than the other way round.
We also found:
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litigation experience increased the size and volume of firms’ disclosures. While worsening readability, this at least had the virtue of increasing thoroughness
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litigation experience was associated with using more complex words and more words per sentence. This implies firms add more detail and nuance to their disclosures, potentially increasing their accuracy
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<li>
after litigation, firms used more uncertain words in their reports. This suggests they avoid declaratory statements in an attempt to better reflect the risk and uncertainty associated with projections
</li>
<li>
following litigation, firms use more legalistic terms. This implies they attempt to preempt legal action by specifically addressing potential legal issues.
</li>
</ul>
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has expressed concern over what it calls “<a href="https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2019-releases/19-279mr-asic-calls-time-on-disclosure-reliance/" target="_blank">sludge</a>” in reports that covers bases but leaves readers uninformed.
It says over-reliance on disclosure “in some ways proved an enabler” of the poor conduct revealed by the banking royal commission.
Our work and the work of ASIC suggests much needs to happen to make reports both accurate and readable.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127102/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW.
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/litigation-is-the-real-reason-financial-reports-are-becoming-harder-to-read-127102" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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