Wellington, Sept 8 NZPA - ING Property Trust has sold retail property in Manukau and bought property in St Lukes, both Auckland transactions valued at the same price.

The listed company today announced an unconditional sale of 792 Great South Road in Manukau and the acquisition of the Storage King building at 7 Wagener Place in St Lukes -- both transactions were $10.5 million each.

It said the transactions consolidated its retail assets, reducing occupancy risk to its portfolio and improving overall quality of investments it holds.

The Manukau retail property, bought in 2006, has always had vacancies and in the latest annual report, ING Property listed it as the only retail site with vacancies.

The company said it got a 6 percent discount for the St Lukes property, next to two adjacent titles already owned by the trust. The purchase would result in a yield of 8.56 to 9.24 percent.

"In terms of our portfolio this increases its value, yield and WALT (weighted average lease term) and further highlights the merit of our management strategy. We have always maintained a diversified and well balanced portfolio to enable us to remain agile in the market," said general manager Peter Mence.

Wagener Storage Ltd had committed to a 10-year lease of the property, better than the three-year lease term currently at 792 Great South Road, ING said.

ING shares were unmoved at 71 cents.