Australia's Lifestyle Communities hits over 3-1/2-yr low on overcharging claims
Updates with Citi comments in paragraphs 6-8
By Sneha Kumar
July 15 (Reuters) -LifestyleCommunities' LIC.AX stock closed 18.1% lower on Monday,a more than 3-1/2-year low, after the Australian real estate rental company took note of client allegations accusing it of collecting excess fees, with some homeowners also filing legal applications.
Shares touched their lowest levels since November 2020, with the stock having lost over 30% in value so far this year.
Lifestyle Communities, which marked itsbiggest intraday percentage loss since March 2020, said it has been engaging with some homeowners at one of its communities at Wollert in northwest Melbourne since February.
"The homeowners have not been satisfied with our responses and have made applications to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)," the company said in a statement, in response to a media report that highlighted complaints around over-charging management fees and issues regarding its exit fee policy.
Lifestyle Communities has denied the allegations made in the VCAT applications, with intentions to defend them.
"Deferred management fees are permissible in all states except for South Australia. In Victoria, most land lease operators charge a deferred management fee (DMF)," the company said.
Analysts at Citi expressed support for the company's stance around the justification of these fees, but said, "These legal proceedings may raise investor concerns around the contract structure for LIC and whether the DMF/Exit fee can be sustained into the future."
A resolution from VCAT could take an extended period to conclude and could possibly be an overhang on the company's shares in the near term, they added.
The company's shares emerged as the biggest percentage loser on the ASX 200 benchmark index .AXJO.
Reporting by Sneha Kumar; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
