EQS-Ad-hoc: Dexus Finance Pty Limited / Key word(s): AGM/EGM Dexus (ASX: DXS) ASX release 29 October 2025 2025 AGM Chair and Group CEO address Dexus provides its Chair and Group CEO address and presentation for the Dexus Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is being held today at 2.00pm (AEDT). The presentation is available to download in the full ASX release at www.dexus.com/dxs. The meeting will be webcast and can be viewed by using the following link: https://meetings.openbriefing.com/DXS25 Authorised by the Board of Dexus Funds Management Limited For further information please contact:
Good afternoon, everyone and welcome to our 2025 Annual General Meeting. I'm Warwick Negus, Chair of the Board of Directors of Dexus Funds Management Limited. Before we start the meeting, I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are presenting from today and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. I would also like to extend that respect to, and welcome, any First Nations people who are joining our meeting today. On behalf of the Dexus Board, welcome to our AGM. It's great to see some of you in person again. Before we start the meeting, can I ask our audience in the room to ensure your mobile phones are switched off or silenced. In the event of an emergency, the fire exits are located along the corridor outside this room. This is also where you will find the rest rooms. I'll table my appointment as Chair of today's meeting and open the meeting. We appreciate that not all Security holders can attend in person and have provided the opportunity for everyone to participate in the meeting through our hybrid meeting format. Today I'm joined by our independent directors Mark Ford, Peeyush Gupta, Rhoda Harrington, Elana Rubin, Nicola Roxon, Paula Dwyer, and Dexus's Group CEO and Managing Director Ross Du Vernet. It is a pleasure to have them here today. We will hear from Rhoda and Elana on their re-election later in the meeting. I would like to make two important acknowledgements. First, I would like to acknowledge Nicola Roxon who is retiring from the Board at the close of this meeting. Nicola was an Independent non-executive Director of Dexus for eight years and has made a significant contribution to the Board as well as the People & Remuneration and Nomination & Governance Committees. Nicola helped us to establish our Sustainability Committee and became its inaugural Chair. The prominence that Sustainability has within the Dexus business is a reflection of the energy she has applied in this role. Nicola's expertise in governance, health and law also helped shape key policies and initiatives during her time on the Board. I would also like to acknowledge Paula Dwyer who is also retiring from the Board today at the close of this meeting. Paula was an Independent non-executive Director of Dexus for nearly three years and has made a significant contribution to the Board as well as the Audit, Risk, People & Remuneration, and Nomination & Governance Committees. Paula is a seasoned company director and her frank assessments have influenced the decisions made by the Company and this Board. Her experiences of many years in Australian financial services, property and construction have contributed to assisting Dexus navigate some challenges in recent years. I would like to personally thank Nicola and Paula for their support of me as Chair and their significant contributions to Dexus. I will now commence the meeting with my address which will provide you with an overview of our positioning and key aspects of our 2025 result. I'll then hand over to Ross who will discuss our quarterly update and Dexus's medium term priorities. We will then turn to the formal aspects relating to the resolutions which were outlined in the 2025 Notice of Meeting and Explanatory Memorandum sent out on 25 September. Turning to our strategy, our purpose, 'Unlock potential. Create tomorrow', reflects our unique ability to create value for our people, customers, investors and communities over the long term. Our vision is to be globally recognised as Australasia's leading real asset manager. We aspire to be known for our deep local sector expertise, our active approach to management, and most importantly as a trusted partner, investing alongside our clients. Our people, our focus on sustainability and governance, and our culture - that promotes constant evolution and improvement - are central to how we unlock potential in the business. We leverage our strengths in transacting, managing and developing quality real estate and infrastructure assets to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Dexus is a unique investment proposition with scale across the real asset spectrum. Our high-quality balance sheet portfolio together with a large, diversified funds management business, differentiate us in a competitive market. Each of our sectors are scalable with potential for continued strong returns. We also benefit from access to diverse pools of capital through the cycle, with third party capital accounting for more than 70% of the Platform's assets, with a well-established presence in office, industrial and retail real estate and an emerging presence in the growth markets of healthcare, infrastructure and alternative investments. Today, our $14 billion balance sheet portfolio is largely invested in high-quality office and industrial real estate alongside third party clients. This combination of balance sheet scale, multi-sector expertise, tight geographical focus, and access to broad and deep pools of third party capital is what makes Dexus unique. Our balance sheet is in transition from what was essentially a passive REIT that derives returns predominantly from office property, to a more diversified investment portfolio that will generate stronger and more resilient long-term growth. We will do this both through our underlying investments and a more capital efficient business model. In doing so, we intend to grow the funds business by more than the balance sheet over the long-term. This is a journey the group has been on for a while, but with the AMP Capital transaction, together with a considerable upgrading of capability across our investment and management teams, we are now more actively pursuing this strategy. A combination of the COVID pandemic, falling asset values and negative sentiment towards office have slowed the pace of this transition. However, with asset values stabilising, opportunities to accelerate the transition should improve. While the transition has taken longer, as a result of these challenges, the end result we are working towards is a more resilient business with better long-term growth prospects. Although Dexus's operational performance has proven relatively resilient during recent disruption and shocks, we are mindful of the statutory and security price performance that has also impacted our Security holders in recent years. Moving forward we want to position the business so that it can not only navigate, but prosper, in volatile and uncertain markets. Moving to the highlights for the past financial year. Despite a challenging environment, we delivered on our guidance with strong cashflows (for which AFFO is a proxy), of $484 million. We paid distributions of 37.0 cents per security reflecting a payout ratio of 82% aligned with our updated distribution policy announced at the FY24 result. Our balance sheet remains strong with gearing at the low end of our range, despite the impact of devaluations over the past few years. In the second half of FY25, our property portfolio valuations turned positive as the cycle turned, contributing to a statutory net profit for the year. In our funds management business, where our focus is on delivering performance, core funds such as the Dexus Wholesale Property Fund and Dexus Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund outperformed their benchmarks. In a market where raising funds for new investments has been challenging, we raised new equity in growth markets, facilitated more than $450 million of secondary unit transactions and divested assets on behalf of several funds to enable $1.8 billion of redemptions and enhance portfolio quality. Despite a subdued transactions market, we have taken an active approach to capital recycling to enhance the quality of the portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet. In FY24, we committed to $2 billion of assets being earmarked for divestment over the next three years. Since then, we have completed c. $1.1 billion (including transactions settled post year-end). These actions, along with the completion of committed developments, will further enhance the quality of our portfolio while maintaining a prudent level of gearing. Our investment philosophy seeks to leverage the deep expertise in our teams to own the assets that will generate the best risk adjusted returns over the long run. We're seeing clearer signs that we have passed an inflection point in property markets. Overall, for the 12 months to 30 June, the portfolio value declined by 1.1%, significantly lower in contrast to previous periods. Pleasingly, as markets started to turn, the second half of the year saw valuations increase by 0.4% for office and 1.0% for industrial, demonstrating the quality of the portfolio. Indicators such as low future supply of space, declining interest rates and cap rates, positive net absorption and stronger demand for high-quality well-located space are all contributing to the better outlook for office. This was mirrored across the broader Dexus real estate platform, with approximately 70% of funds under management recording a valuation uplift in the second half. Our $35 billion funds management business has scale and is diversified across sectors and investor type. In recent years, we've been working through elevated redemptions as some investors adjust their strategies and seek liquidity against a challenged macro-economic environment - particularly across core products. We have actively divested assets on behalf of our clients to facilitate redemption requests and maintained prudent gearing levels, while enhancing portfolios. The market for raising capital globally remains challenged, but there is a cyclical element to this, and the recent improvement in unlisted wholesale fund returns is driving improving sentiment. Having access to diverse pools of capital positions us well as the cycle turns. And the leadership team we have put in place in our funds management business is focused on both driving performance and fund raising. Over the year, we closed two sub-scale funds and our focus on simplifying the funds platform will continue. We are working through fund specific matters and redemptions, including the resolution of the APAC matter. This relates to client investments in Melbourne and Launceston Airports. In response to the application of other parties to the matter, the court has moved out the hearing, previously scheduled to be held in November this year, to April next year, with the potential for mediation now by December this year. We continue to work towards a resolution of this matter in the best interests of our clients. With real asset markets rebounding and the domestic superannuation sector expected to double over the next decade to more than $8 trillion, the funds business is well positioned with high quality assets in markets which are expected to outperform. We continue to explore potential new product launches in line with client demand. We continue to be globally recognised for our leadership in Sustainability. We remain committed to sustainable outcomes, focusing on our priority areas and initiatives that make both financial sense and have a positive impact on our customers, the environment and our communities. We continue to maintain net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions, including sourcing 100% renewable electricity for the managed portfolio. We are focused on reducing our reliance on offsets through a program of energy efficiency and electrification. Our new social value theme - creating local connections for healthy hearts and minds - guides our community engagement and investment activities. Our assets play a unique role in bringing people together and we're focused on creating inclusive, accessible spaces that foster belonging and support healthier, more connected communities. For our customers, this translates to safe, healthy and high-performing spaces that support their wellbeing, productivity and satisfaction. At the 2024 AGM, 25.5% of the votes were cast against our FY24 Remuneration Report which resulted in a 'second strike'. Following the AGM, the Board engaged with investors and proxy advisors, and we thank them for their time and feedback. We have undertaken a review of the executive remuneration framework, and with the assistance of an external independent advisor, the Board has adopted a 'back to basics' approach to executive remuneration. The new framework is simple, sustainable and credible. It enables us to attract and retain key talent while, importantly, aligning executive outcomes with Security holder experience. In assessing the appropriateness of STI outcomes for Executive Key Management Personnel (or KMP), the Board considers general business matters outside the scorecard, including Group financial and operational performance and Security holder experience. As a result, the Board applied its discretion to reduce the raw calculated STI scorecard outcome for all Executive KMP by 20%. Additionally, the Group CEO has volunteered for his FY25 STI award to be withheld until there is greater certainty regarding the outcome of the APAC litigation. Despite initially receiving positive feedback during our early engagement with investors, the proposed FY25 LTI Options plan referenced in our 2024 Remuneration Report and Notice of Meeting was subsequently withdrawn due to strong concerns from some investors and proxy advisors about certain aspects of the final design. As such, no LTI has yet been granted to Executive KMP for FY25. Subject to approval by Security holders, the FY25 and FY26 LTI will be granted following the 2025 AGM. We re-introduced a Performance Rights LTI plan with performance to be assessed against both Relative Total Security holder Return (RTSR) and Absolute Total Security holder Return (ATSR) both at 50%, targets to be tested at the end of years 3 and 4. The strategic component has been removed from the LTI plan from FY25 onwards. Long-term value creation for Security holders is a key focus of the revised LTI Plan. In summary, we invest for the long term, and despite market challenges over the past few years, we are now past the inflection point with valuations turning positive in the six months to 30 June 2025. Barring unforeseen circumstances, for the 12 months ending 30 June 2026, we expect AFFO of We have solid foundations with a differentiated funds platform, strong client relationships and a diverse product offering. Our investment portfolio is high quality and positioned to benefit as liquidity returns to the office market. Before passing to Ross, I would like to thank my fellow Directors and the Dexus team for their commitment and contribution over the past 12 months, and you, our investors, for your continued support. Group CEO's address Thanks Warwick and good afternoon everyone. With our executive team now fully in place, we are well-positioned to drive performance across both sectors and funds as we enter the early stages of a new cycle. Our medium-term goals align to our strategic priority areas of transitioning the balance sheet, maximising the contribution from the funds business and unlocking our deep sector expertise. We are making good progress against each of these goals. In addition to the highlights already outlined:
Despite a challenging operating environment, we continue to see positive momentum across the Platform in the quarter to 30 September. On the balance sheet, rent collections across our office and industrial portfolios remain strong at 99.5%. As expected, our office portfolio occupancy reduced slightly to 91.2% due to anticipated expiries at 80 Collins Street in Melbourne and 25 Martin Place in Sydney but remains well above the market average. Our industrial portfolio occupancy of 95.9% was supported by leasing success in Sydney. Positively, office leasing volumes have improved. The slight increase we have seen in incentives can be attributed to leasing deals in Perth and North Sydney. In developments, we are progressing construction at our city shaping projects at Waterfront Brisbane and Atlassian Central in Sydney. Atlassian Central is 100% pre-leased with a 15-year lease and 4% annual increases. Waterfront Brisbane is 52% pre-leased with 3.4% average annual increases. All committed projects are delivered through fixed price contracts with Tier 1 contractors, providing construction cost confidence and various protections in the case of delay. In our industrial portfolio, we continue construction across more than 180,400 square metres, including at our key industrial estates in Ravenhall and Jandakot and we have completed construction of three assets, all 100% leased. Positive momentum continues across our funds platform, with flagship funds Dexus Wholesale Property Fund and Dexus Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund continuing to outperform their benchmarks. Powerco, New Zealand's largest dual electricity and gas distributor and majority-owned by Dexus-managed funds, entered into an agreement to acquire Firstlight Network, a New Zealand electricity distribution business. The acquisition, subject to regulatory approval, reflects Powerco's strong asset management capabilities and strategic approach to bolt-on growth and aligns with Dexus's Climate Transition Action Plan to invest in resilient, future-focused infrastructure that supports the energy transition. Fund raising continues for DREP2 with an additional circa $30 million of equity committed, taking total commitments to over $510 million, with final close scheduled for HY26. In sustainability, we continue to be recognised for sustainability leadership with a 5-star rating for Dexus in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark. Our unlisted funds also performed well, with DDIT achieving a historical best score of 98/100 and achieving 5 stars, while DHPF, DWPF and DALT all ranked in the top 3 in their respective categories. Over the past few years, we have enhanced the quality of the portfolio, including divesting lower quality assets, continuing to develop landmark assets and implementing our leasing strategy, which is focused on maximising long term value. This, combined with the diversity of our portfolio across more than 175 properties and almost 1,400 customers, contributes to the resilience of the portfolio as shown in the key metrics of occupancy and incentives. One of the keys to our success in the industrial development business is the direct relationships we hold with high value customers who have growth aspirations, which creates opportunity for repeat business, as we have done with groups like Hello Fresh and Amazon. Looking to FY26, we have refreshed our medium-term goals to maintain momentum against our strategic priority areas. To transition the balance sheet: We intend to
To maximise the contribution of funds: We will
And finally, to unlock our deep sector expertise: We will focus on
Thank you for your support, and I'll now hand back to Warwick to move to the formal business of the meeting.
ENDS End of Inside Information Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this announcement: About Dexus Dexus (ASX: DXS) is a leading Australasian fully integrated real asset group, managing a high-quality Australasian real estate and infrastructure portfolio valued at $50.1 billion. The Dexus Platform includes the Dexus listed portfolio and the funds management business. The $14.5 billion listed portfolio includes direct and indirect ownership of office, industrial, retail, healthcare, infrastructure, alternatives and other investments. We manage a further $35.6 billion of investments in our funds management business which connects third party capital with exposure to quality sector specific and diversified real asset products. The funds within this business have a strong track record of delivering performance and benefit from Dexus's Platform capabilities. The Platform's $13.3 billion real estate development pipeline provides the opportunity to grow both the listed and funds' portfolios and enhance future returns. We are deeply connected to our purpose unlock potential, create tomorrow, reflecting our unique ability to create value for our people, customers, investors and communities over the long term. Our sustainability approach focuses on the priority areas where we believe we can make the most impact: Customer Prosperity, Climate Action and Enhancing Communities. Dexus is supported by more than 37,000 investors from 26 countries. With more than four decades of expertise in real asset investment, funds management, asset management and development, we have a proven track record in capital and risk management and delivering returns for investors. www.dexus.com Dexus Funds Management Limited ABN 24 060 920 783, AFSL 238163, as Responsible Entity for Dexus (ASX: DXS)
29-Oct-2025 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. |
| Language: | English |
| Company: | Dexus Finance Pty Limited |
| 264 George Street | |
| 2193 Sydney | |
| Australia | |
| Phone: | +61 2 9017 1100 |
| Fax: | +61 2 9017 1101 |
| E-mail: | ir@dexus.com |
| Internet: | www.dexus.com |
| ISIN: | XS1961891220, XS2487637527 |
| WKN: | A2RZHG |
| Listed: | Regulated Unofficial Market in Frankfurt |
| EQS News ID: | 2220146 |
| End of Announcement | EQS News Service |
2220146 29-Oct-2025 CET/CEST
