LIC -37.22%: Resumed trading today after being halted after a state tribunal ruled that some of the company’s exit fee agreements should be scrapped. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that some of the company’s deferred management fees should be declared void because the company did not clearly disclose the fee amounts in its residential site agreements. LIC is among several operators in Australia’s retirement land-lease community sector, where residents aged 50 and over buy a home, and lease the land it stands on. LIC said it will amend new contracts to comply with the ruling until the appeal is resolved, though existing contracts will remain unchanged.
There are others operating in the space, including the newly listed GemLife Communities Group (GLF) which came on the boards last week at $4.16, being the largest IPO this year. Shares closed today at $4.06.
- UBS maintained their buy call on LIC despite the news today.
