Shares in international property and infrastructure giant Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) are back on the incline after dumping down to $15.57 in mid-February, with prices rising 13% since then to sit at $17.92 at the time of writing.
Lendlease posted strong half-year results to kick off March with NPAT up 8% to $426 million and FY18 expected to meet expectations.
The half-year report showed issues within the construction division amounting to a $26 million loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation during the six months to December, but the knock appears to be isolated and one-off as the 60-year-old company maintains an extensive project pipeline and strong fundamentals.
Lendlease announced a buyback plan for the next 12 months of more than 32 million shares up to $500 million in value – this represents close to 5% of shares on issue at the current trading price – and an interim dividend of 34c per share, up 3% on the previous corresponding period.
The Lendlease share price has generally tracked upwards in the last 5 years, with yesterday's results likely to impact shareholder sentiment favourably.
