Brisbane-based property fund manager Cromwell has pinned its hopes on the sale of a $500 million-plus portfolio of Polish malls to reduce debt, improve gearing and shift its focus back to growth opportunities.

Chaired by Gary Weiss, the Brisbane-based player’s statutory loss deepened to $271.4 million for its 2024 half-year, compared with a $129.5 million loss a year earlier. Much of that result can be sheeted home to a $240.2 million decline in property valuations, which has taken Cromwell’s gearing to 44.7 per cent, well past its target range although still well short of its banking covenants at 60 per cent.