Macquarie Countrywide Sells Two of Ten Supermarkets at Auction

Executives at Macquarie Countrywide Trust are licking their wounds after only two of ten supermarkets they put to auction yesterday, sold.

Macquarie CountryWide chief executive officer Steven Sewell is reported as saying he was surprised there was little bidding for the supermarkets, which were hoped to yield about $100 million for the asset-rich, cash-poor diversified investment house.

The group's portfolio includes about 80 properties with a book value of $1.3 billion. It put 10 properties, with a book value of about $100 million, to the market earlier this year.

The two properties that did sell included the Coles-leased supermarket at Plympton in Adelaide's west, which sold for $5.06 million on a yield of 6.6 per cent. This property had a book value of $5.3 million according to company reports.

Another supermarket in Georgetown, leased to Woolworths, sold for $3.75 million, reflecting a yield of 7.07 per cent. This supermarket sold for slightly more than its book value of $3.6 million.

Eight more properties, which include retail outlets in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria were passed in without any bids.

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