St Laurence Property & Finance Bonds to pay 9.25%

News Release 7 April 2005

St Laurence Property & Finance Bonds to pay 9.25% or 2.25% over the 90 Day Bank Bill Rate

St Laurence Property & Finance Limited (SLP&F), part of the Wellington based investment and finance group St Laurence, announced that its $50 million Bond Offer which opens today will pay either 9.25% for the fixed rate option, or a 2.25% margin over the 90 day bank bill rate to investors taking the floating rate option.

The offer is open for six weeks, closing on 20 May 2005 or earlier if the offer is over subscribed. The Bonds have a term of just over 5 years, with a maturity date of 15 July 2010.

“A key feature of this Bond Offer is the choice it provides investors; either an attractive fixed interest rate or a floating rate providing a significant margin over the 90 day bank bill rate, which will be reset quarterly. We envisage that many investors will choose to invest in both,” Kevin Podmore, managing director of the St Laurence group and chairman of SLP&F, said.

The Bonds are being offered in two tranches of equal ranking. Series 1 Bonds will pay a fixed interest rate of 9.25% and the Series 2 Bonds, a rate of 9.25% for the initial period to 15 July 2005. The interest rate on the Series 2 Bonds will be reset on 15 July 2005 and at quarterly intervals after then, to a margin of 2.25% over the 90 day bank bill rate. The minimum principal investment of $5,000 applies to both the Series 1 and Series 2 Bonds, and thereafter in multiples of $1,000.

The Bonds are secured on a first ranking basis in respect of assets which are not subject to prior charges and otherwise rank behind prior charges. Bondholders will rank alongside and equal to the company’s existing Debenture Stock holders.

SLP&F has reserved the right to increase, but not to decrease, the interest rates offered at any time by written notice to the NZX prior to the closing date, and to accept over-subscriptions of up to $20 million. If the interest rates are increased while the Offer is open all investors will receive the increased interest rate on their Bonds.

Application has been made to NZX for permission to list the Bonds on the NZDX and all of the requirements of NZX relating to the application that can be complied with on or before the date of this press release have been duly complied with. However, NZX accepts no responsibility for any statement in this news release. SLP&F expects the Bonds to be quoted and traded on the NZDX after the Offer closes, on or about 24 May 2005.

“We anticipate that Bondholders will have the opportunity to trade their Bonds on the NZDX, subject to our application to the NZX being successful, thereby enabling investors who need to sell their Bonds with a market to do so.

“Responses to date from our Lead Manager and Organising Participant, First NZ Capital, and other Market Participants have been most encouraging.

“St Laurence group is a well established, substantial entity with a diverse asset portfolio and an experienced management team which currently manages in excess of $600 million of investments for over 12,000 investors,” Mr Podmore said.

ENDS

BACKGROUND

St Laurence Property & Finance Limited (SLP&F) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of St Laurence Holdings Limited. With offices in Sydney and Wellington, St Laurence Holdings manages more than $600 million of assets for more than 12,000 investors.

SLP&F was established in April 2000 and is an active property investment and financing company. Its activities include property investment, property projects and developments, lending and underwriting services, securities investment, and investment in property backed commercial enterprises.

SLP&F’s chairman is Kevin Podmore; he is also the managing director of parent company, St Laurence Holdings Limited, which was founded in 1994. He has been primarily responsible for the St Laurence group’s growth, which has seen assets under management grow from it inception to over $600 million today.

Fellow SLP&F director, Philip Newland, is an executive director of the St Laurence group. Philip is an experienced director who has held board positions in both public and private companies in Australia and New Zealand. He was previously group managing director of Cullen Investments, and is currently a director of the NZSX listed company, Abano Healthcare Ltd.

Recently appointed independent director, Quentin Hay, is a commercial barrister with broad experience in the finance, investment and property sectors in New Zealand. Quentin is a former senior partner in Bell Gully, a leading New Zealand law firm.

SLP&F chief executive, John Mallon, has over 13 years experience in the financial services and investment industry, including senior positions in the corporate trust division of Perpetual Trust Limited and the lending division of BNZ Finance Limited.

ENDS

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