Retirement village operator Oceania Healthcare sees sales pick up, but market still stuck

Friday, 21 November 2025

There’s been a noticeable pick-up in Oceania Healthcare’s retirement unit sales but the trading environment remains tough, the company’s chief executive says.

On Friday, the NZX-listed company reported its total sales volumes rose to 271 (161 care suites and 110 independent living units) over the six months to September, a 5% increase on the same period last year.

Of those sales, 91 were new sales and 180 were resales, which reflected momentum across the portfolio, it said.

There was also an improvement in sales at the company’s flagship premium village, The Helier in Auckland, and over half (54.5%) of its residences were now occupied or under application.

At the company’s Franklin village in Auckland, which is being completed in stages, presales were building strongly with 12 villas now sold.

Oceania chief executive Suzanne Dvorak said the company had set out to improve sales to reduce unsold stock and in turn net debt, and several sales initiatives had been introduced to assist.

Improving sales momentum

Sales results over the first half reflected the start of those initiatives and showed promising momentum, despite challenging market conditions, she told The Post.

“We’ve asked the sales team whether market conditions have improved, and they report they are still seeing some delay in the time it takes to settle sold properties before people are moving in.

“This result is more a reflection on the sales team, the improved techniques they're using and how we're capturing interest and inquiries and applications and then following them through.”

While the company was still hopeful for a significant improvement in the market, it was not seeing one yet, she said.

“Everyone tells us it is starting to improve, but it's still pretty tough out there.”

Dvorak was encouraged by the early signs of momentum. Oceania’s applications had increased by 58% year-on-year, and they were seeing a drop-off of about 11% from that, she said.

“That gives you an indication of why we're confident in the uplift in sales and what we can achieve by the end of the year.”

Enquiry and conversion levels at The Helier continued to build, and that uplift was meaningful after sales at the village got off to a slow start, she said.

“Initially, there was a perception it was not accessible to most people but there's a range of products there from one-bedroom apartments up to three bedroom apartments, and the price point for them varies.

“Once we were more transparent with pricing, and people started to realise they can access it and came to look - that's where we've got the momentum from.

“A busy village is a good village, so as we've had more interest, we've had more applications and more settlements.”

Oceania was now targeting full cash recovery, including interest, on The Helier by March.

Dvorak was also happy with Franklin’s sales performance as it “reflects the growing strength of Oceania’s sales capability, with product design, pricing, and location increasingly aligned to customer demand”.

Debt before development

The increased momentum in sales would not lead to the company embarking on significant new development projects, she said.

“There has been a lot of attention focused on our debt and gearing, and as a listed company we have investors so our first priority is to reduce debt.

“We have been, and we’re now within our targeted range, and as we continue to reduce that and have capital that we can recycle, then we will be looking at developments.”

At the moment the developments the company was focused on were projects that it had in train, such as Franklin, or where it had guaranteed something, such as the aged care at Waterford, she said.

“But not anything over and above that, as getting our debt down and our gearing right is our first priority.”

Oceania reduced its debt gearing to 34.8% in the first half, down from 36.3% at 31 March, leaving undrawn debt headroom of $116.1m at the end of September, the company’s results showed.

It also reported a first half profit of $4.9m, which reversed a $17.1m net loss over the same period last year.

Underlying pre-tax earnings rose 18.9% to $24.1m, while its total assets increased 3.4% to $3 billion from $2.9b, but the company’s revenue fell from $132.6m to $131.6m.

Oceania put its improved results down to “disciplined execution and sustained momentum across its strategic priorities of sales performance, business excellence, and capital management”.

Dvorak said the company now had stronger cash generation, a leaner cost base, and the balance sheet strength to pursue disciplined growth.

It was entering the second half of the financial year with significantly improved sales, and financial, and operational momentum, and disciplined execution gave them confidence moving forward, she said.

But Liz Coutts, Oceania’s chair, said the board had decided not to declare an interim dividend for the first half, in line with its policy. The company has not paid dividends since 2023.

“Dividend payments are expected to resume when the business achieves positive free cash flow from operations, supporting a return to payment of dividends.”