Australian property manager Centuria Capital is seeking A$300 million from investors at A$2.00 per share to expand its ResetData data-center platform, a move that drew sharply divergent analyst views on Tuesday.
Jefferies retained a buy recommendation on Centuria Capital after the company announced the offering. Analyst Andrew Dodds said the property manager was taking advantage of a 31% rise in its share price over the past month. Jefferies estimated the capital raising would reduce fiscal 2027 earnings by less than 1%, but cautioned that the calculation “doesn’t take into account the potentially higher returning reinvestment of proceeds in funding the expansion of ResetData through the 23MW pipeline and acceleration of the revenue/earnings profile.” Jefferies raised its price target by 6.4% to A$2.66 per share. Centuria Capital last traded at A$2.18.
Macquarie took the opposing view, downgrading Centuria Capital to underperform from outperform. Analyst estimates pegged the capital cost at A$56 million per megawatt, implying a total outlay of A$1.35 billion based on 24.1 megawatts. “Assuming vendor financing at 70% loan-to-value ratio implies equity required of circa A$400 million,” Macquarie said. That figure exceeds the A$300 million being raised. Macquarie raised its price target 6% to A$1.88 per share, well below the last traded price of A$2.18.
The split reflects broader uncertainty about the capital intensity of data-center investment as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland published research examining whether banks could face spillover effects from their indirect funding of business loans originated by nonbank lenders. Nonbank lenders have grown in the business lending sector in recent decades, and some of their funding comes from traditional banks, raising concerns about contagion risk if nonbank lenders default on their loans.
Cleveland Fed economist Jan-Peter Siedlarek estimated that in 2024, about 6.1% of all business loans were made by nonbank lenders but indirectly funded by banks. That share has mostly remained in the 5% to 6% range over the prior 20 years. “This amount is small when viewed as a share of total business lending and does not compensate fully for the decline in direct bank balance sheet lending to the business sector in recent decades,” Siedlarek wrote.
In Europe, UBS analyst Johan Ekblom forecast that Danske Bank would report second-quarter clean pre-tax income of 7.9 billion Danish kroner in the second quarter, up 4% on quarter and 8% on year. Ekblom cited positive revenue trends supported by net interest income, a seasonal recovery in fees, and normalizing trading income. Operating expense growth was forecast at 3% on year, with UBS expecting a gradual normalization of credit losses. “We expect a broadly stable net interest margin in the quarter, but see tailwinds building and benefiting both Q3 and Q4 compared to current levels,” Ekblom wrote. UBS lifted its price target on the stock to 388 kroner from 386 kroner and reiterated its buy rating. Shares traded at 351.90 kroner, down 0.1%.