Abacus Group Stapled Securities (ABCGF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

SA Transcripts158.57K FollowersFollow5ShareSaveCommentsPlay Earnings CallPlay Earnings Call Abacus Group Stapled Securities (ABCGF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call February 23, 2026 6:00 PM EST Company Participants Steven Sewell - MD & DirectorEvan Goodridge - Chief Financial OfficerKevin George Conference Call Participants Larry Gandler - Shaw and Partners Limited, Research DivisionCallum Bramah - Macquarie Research Presentation Operator Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Abacus Group HY '26 Results Presentation. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Steven Sewell, Managing Director. Please go ahead. Steven SewellMD & Director Good morning, everybody, and thanks for taking the time to join us for the half year 2026 results for Abacus Group. I'm joined here today by Evan Goodridge, the CFO for the group; and Kevin George, General Manager, Commercial and Fund Manager, as well as the Investor Relations team. Abacus Group remains a diversified commercial REIT with a portfolio of office and retail assets alongside our strategic stake 19.7% investment in Abacus Storage King. As at 31 December 2025, the portfolio was valued at $2.6 billion with a weighted average cap rate now sitting at 6.81%. During the period, we saw several positive trends. Underlying office operating earnings grew 5.8% year-on-year. When excluding surrender fees, retail earnings grew 4.5%, and administrative and other expenses declined 8.1% as the business further rightsizes to support our future earnings growth. We were pleased to declare a $0.0425 per share distribution, in line with HY '25. And gearing of 34.5% remains within our target range and appropriate, we believe, for this stage of the cycle. Our vision and strategy for Abacus Group remains clear: to create long-term value for customers and stakeholders by identifying, owning and managing a focused portfolio of real estate investments. In delivering this, we remain disciplined in our strategy, concentrating on select real estate sectors where we