NZRPT doubles profit

The trust says that it would pay a 1.77c a share dividend to unit-holders. It made a $6.97 million capital repayment to unit-holders during the year.

NZRPT chief executive Tim Ryan says the profit reflected strong international commodity prices, a weaker NZ dollar and favourable climatic conditions, all of which contributed to an improvement in rural property values.

The strong performance has led to a substantial increase in the net asset value per unit to $1.53, compared with $1.38 a year earlier.

Ryan says a big factor behind the strong result was the decision of unit-holders to change the structure of the trust to a closed-end trust last October.