Selling off $1.5 bilion starting at $300million - Fat Head Fahour fleeces the public for our property.

Maybe I am a bit of a dumb cunt, but to me, selling off public property (The post offices), that Fat Head Fahour DOES NOT OWN, i.e. it's not his to sell off; and then renting them back from the people you sold it too, just does not seem to make sense.

To me, retaining possession of the public property, and then renting out the unused space, or if the building is largely vacant, renting the whole thing out, creates a source of perpetual income, rather than a quick sale cash grab, with a complete loss of all future revenue.

I am not privy to the entire broad view of each commercial and residential market, but in terms of clear profit after costs, I'd assume that the annual rental income would would be a substantial portion of the sale price.

And the repeated rental income over the longer term, would more than exceed the instant cash grab fire sale price, of things that are not Fat Head's to sell.

And while I might be a dumb cunt, I can at least figure out that Fat Head imbues a pleasant rhyming ring, where as shit for brains doesn't.



http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/2016/05/10/australia-post-sell-crown-jewels/

Australia Post is getting ready to sell its crown jewels

In a desperate bid to raise much-needed capital, the postal company is considering cashing in historic GPOs.

Australia Post is readying to sell its most prized property assets as the organisation’s senior management looks for ways to turn around the company’s ailing financial fortunes.

Leaked investment documents show Australia Post is actively seeking expressions of interest to sell its GPO buildings in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Canberra – most of which date back to the late 1800s.

No timeframe has been set as yet, but sources told The New Daily that the historic sandstone buildings are likely to go on the auction block very soon under the direction of Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour.

A May 20 deadline for bids on the portfolio is stipulated in the expression of interest documents.

 And timing is of the essence, with the cash-strapped organisation having recently reported an 84 per cent fall in its half-year profit to just $16 million following a disastrous $222 million loss in 2015, its first in more than three decades.

With an estimated value on its prime GPO sites of more than $300 million, one option under consideration is to sell the buildings into a trust company that would be run by Sydney-based real estate investment group Eureka Funds Management.
Australia Post would take a stake of 40 per cent in what would be known as the Australian GPO Trust, with one or more investors buying the remaining 60 per cent.
But the plan would ultimately see Australia Post reduce its stake, with other investors having first right of refusal to buy out its interest in the trust.
“This is truly an exceptionally rare offering of prime real estate, unlikely ever to be repeated,” the documents state.
“The portfolio represents a compelling blue chip investment proposition, being well diversified by location, use and tenants.”
In Melbourne, for example, the historic GPO on Bourke Street in the CBD – built in 1859 – is currently leased to tenants including retailer H&M.
Sydney’s GPO on Martin Place – built in 1866 – is leased to the Far East Organisation and Sino Group under an 80-year tenancy. The building currently houses a Westin Hotel.

The average lease term on Australia Post’s GPOs is 70 years.
 Australia Post lists more than 4400 properties in its financial accounts, including 728 corporate offices, 2899 post offices and franchises, and another 779 post agencies.
The properties were listed with a gross book value of $1.5 billion at June 30, 2015.
Australia Post sought to downplay the leak on Tuesday.
“We are in the early stages of reviewing our GPO properties to evaluate if there are opportunities to maximise return on these assets so that we can reinvest in our business to ensure our long-term sustainability,” an Australia Post spokesperson said.
“If we decided to proceed, we would ensure the heritage significance of these properties is maintained.

“No decision has been made and this process is only in market evaluation stage. This is part of our regular review of our property portfolio.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Geoff S. • 11 days ago

I thought the post office was a public institution, not a profit-driven corporation.

The agenda is clearly to drive AP out of business so its operations can be handed over to private interests. I wonder what the National Party thinks of this, because it will be rural and remote Australia that will cop huge cost increases when the 'user pays' philosophy bites home.

What a sad, grubby, money-grubbing society we've become.


J Jones • 11 days ago

The whole of Australia is for sale in these neoliberal times. We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.


Fred G • 10 days ago

Name, Shame and Sack whoever appointed this incompetent and massively overpaid CEO and return the postal service to it's core business.


Tony from Coogee • 10 days ago

I can think of a way for Australia Post to make a quick 4 million dollars.
Get rid of the CEO.


Greg Elliott • 10 days ago

With a bloated salary structure and a vastly overpaid CEO who has no ideas, other than to flog the family jewels, Ozzie Post is being flown into the ground by a captain who has, no doubt, already arranged his golden parachute.

When will the Labour Party, if not the Australian people, realise what an asset it has and why it needs to be preserved? Of course, don't expect any bright ideas from the conservatives who only have a doctrinaire interest in removing Aussie Post from the business landscape and thereby handing over the economy completely to the banks.


fair_for_all • 10 days ago

Future generations will look back on all the public owned facilities & services that our current generation of Australians are selling off & despair that there were no brains to be passed on, together with no facilities and no public services


Cherie • 10 days ago

I'm outraged by this happening. The CEO, Ahmed Fahour, earns millions of dollars and he spent lavishly when starting the job, taking many "clients" to the Olympics. Get rid of him, cut future CEOs salaries, and perhaps the Australian people can keep their iconic Australia Post buildings.

Just how much inability in the job is the government going to put up with. He has been an absolute disaster. He should be sacked before he can do any more damage.


Paul P • 10 days ago

So we sell the farm again AP shows a profit and Ahmed Fahour gets another multi million bonus on top of his already huge salary for overseeing this travesty.


glennrob • 10 days ago

I would of started with the over paid remuneration of the CEO. Bring that down to public service levels and you would save a million or more. Plus, after watching the deterioration of the Newcastle GPO building one would assume that to hold onto these as historical buildings will not happen as they will be left to decay over time with only the wrecking ball being used in its final ending.


AndroidsRule • 10 days ago

How do we get rid of the reason (Fahour) for AP doing so badly?




AussieEngineer • 10 days ago

The beautiful and historic Newcastle Post Office went a long time ago. It has remained an unused eyesore for a couple of decades. Things might have looked up in the past couple of years.
Iconic public buildings should remain in public hands in perpetuity.
Is this country and government really so broke that it is forced to flog its jewellery?
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