Caveat Re ING Property Trust (don't know if the same things need to be looked out for on others or not as I haven't held any others...)

READ THE FINE PRINT

They are quick to point out the increases in holdings, massive earnings growth, record revaluation gains etc... but if you look more closely the real drivers behind this are additional units issued, and as a result (of dilution) the earnings per unit are strongly diminishing. The earnings per unit you will only find it buried in the depth of the notes appended to the financial statements. ING had been issuing additional units (at a discount no less) to institutional buyers including their parent company. They are now also issuing units to all shareholders, also at a slight discount. Moral of the story: it is easy to issue new units, buy more buildigs, management rights etc. and proclaim to be growing but the truth is if the eps is declining as a result, they are buying growth at too high a price....! However, in their defence they have had reasonable returns over the last few years and have a strong yield so will be popular for some...

Disc

NZX: PPL / RYM
ASX BPC / RPC / FXJ