Founded shortly after 1920, Australand (ALZ) is now a commercial conglomerate specializing in the development and sales of high-end commercial, retail and residential housing (Australand.com.au, 2014). Being an Australian based company with a diversity of investment options, the company has also seen tremendous growth; especially through mergers and acquisitions. These have not only helped the company position in the growth mode but also facilitate its global strategic positioning (InvestSmart, 2011). In the move, the company has undertaken numerous strategic mergers and acquisitions from its initial registration as TM Burke Pty Ltd (1920). Among these include the Hooker Corporation merger (1990) and the Walker Corporation acquisition (2000) among others. Nonetheless, the mergers and acquisitions the company has engaged have always spurred its growth leading to the wholesale property and property-linked trusts being established by the company’s operational wing.
Company size and market
After many years of operating within the Australian property development market, Australand now enjoys a huge stake. Moreover, the company runs on approximately 2.595 million dollar market stake. However, with the Australian property market being fairly volatile, the EPS growth rate equally remains fairly unpredictable. For instance, in 2013’s quarter 1, the company posted a -0.2721% growth before reverting the rate to 0.8983% in quarter 4 of the year. Moreover, the company realized a 28.1744% percentage P/E in 2013. As such, the company still trails behind some of its peers in the property market as well as the entire sector as well. For instance, Australand now runs way below the market capitalization of Scentre, Stockland and Westfield Corp among others.
In the market positioning, Australand also operates with an average 3-year P/E ratio of 16.8 compared to its sectorial and overall market performance of 12.8 and 15.3 respectively (Investsmart.com.au, 2013).