Charter Hall (CTOUF), Rural Funds (RFNDF): Selling Above Book, Trading Below NTA

On 20 August 2026, Charter Hall Group (CTOUF) and Rural Funds Group (RFNDF) each held FY26 results calls and described the same split: the physical assets these Australian listed property vehicles sell change hands above their carrying values, while their own units keep trading below net tangible assets per unit.

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Two prices for the same building

An Australian listed property vehicle owns offices, warehouses, shopping centres or farms. Independent valuers periodically set how much net asset value sits behind each unit — the industry calls it NTA — and the units themselves trade on the exchange at whatever the secondary market will pay. For years those two prices tracked each other closely, so a vehicle that wanted to grow simply issued new units and spent the proceeds on new assets.

Private capital and offshore long-term money have moved back into Australian real assets, and the buyers who approach a vehicle directly now pay more than book. The secondary market still discounts the units. Issuing equity at a discount means selling part of the vehicle for less than its assets are worth, and management will not do that trade, so the public funding route closes on its own. Three sources of capital remain: sell some assets, bring in third-party capital as a co-owner, or buy back units.

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Sale prices 17-25% above book, units about 30% below

Rural Funds contracted A$317.5 million of asset sales in FY26 at an average premium of roughly 18% to book value. Four cattle properties inside that total went for A$234 million at a 25% premium, and management said the independent valuations were therefore supported by real transactions [1]. The same material shows adjusted net asset value per unit rising from A$3.08 to A$3.22 while the units closed at A$2.18 [1].

Centuria Industrial REIT reported the same direction on 10 August: A$200 million of FY26 divestments at an average 17% premium, and management stressed these outcomes were not isolated [2]. The figures come from two independent vehicles, which makes the gap between transaction prices and unit prices harder to read as one fund's lucky deal.

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Growth capital now comes from unlisted funds and partners

Charter Hall stated the funding conclusion plainly: until the discount and the valuation gap change, it does not expect listed REITs to raise much equity [3]. In the same week, Dexus set out a plan to release more than A$2 billion of capital over two years by introducing third-party capital into core long-term holdings and continuing to prune the portfolio, and called its buyback a near-term lever rather than a replacement for growth [4]. Mirvac announced a A$200 million buyback, citing a 25% discount to NTA as the reason [5]. Region had already bought back 12.7 million securities for A$29.2 million [6].

The party funding new assets therefore moves from the public market to unlisted funds and institutional partners, and a manager's revenue leans further on fees earned over unlisted funds under management. Charter Hall recorded A$6.7 billion of gross equity inflows in the same year with no redemption queues across its funds [3].

Two boundaries apply. BWP Trust completed a fully underwritten entitlement offer inside the same financial year, so listed equity issuance has not shut down completely [7]. And Rural Funds gave its own reason for selling: capital growth over the next ten years is unlikely to match the prior decade [1], a reading under which the premium is a decade of gains being realised. The metrics to watch next are net equity raised by the listed vehicles, units on issue, and management fee revenue on unlisted funds under management.

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Companies this change could affect:

• Centuria Capital Group (CNI.AX): It is the external manager of Centuria Industrial REIT, and its revenue comes from fees on funds under management, so a mix in which listed vehicles turn into net sellers and new money only reaches unlisted funds would move where those fees originate. Drillr holds no FY26 full-year call for it, so the company has not disclosed any such effect itself [8].
• MA Financial Group (MAF.AX): On 19 August it said listed markets were substantially closed for issuance while flows from domestic unlisted channels stayed strong, and it has been buying physical assets including shopping centres [9]. Whether the assets listed vehicles prune and the equity they cannot raise end up in its unlisted funds is not answered by the material.

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Sources

[1] Drillr · Rural Funds Group (RFNDF) · 2026-08-20 · FY26 results call

[2] Drillr · Centuria Industrial REIT (CIP.AX) · 2026-08-10 · FY26 results call

[3] Drillr · Charter Hall Group (CTOUF) · 2026-08-20 · FY26 results call

The REIT sector is still trading at discounts to NTA and at PE multiples that don't compete with the unlisted equity market. So until that changes, I don't see much equity being raised in listed REITs.

[4] Drillr · Dexus (DXS.AX) · 2026-08-19 · FY26 results briefing

[5] Drillr · Mirvac (MGR.AX) · 2026-08-18 · FY26 results call

[6] Drillr · Region Group (RGN.AX) · 2026-08-17 · FY26 results call

[7] Drillr · BWP Trust (BWP.AX) · 2026-08-18 · FY26 results call

[8] Drillr · Centuria Capital Group (CNI.AX) · 2026-02-25 · 1H FY26 results call

[9] Drillr · MA Financial Group (MAF.AX) · 2026-08-19 · 1H 2026 results call

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