Defence Housing Australia could be a promising privatisation prospect, with the organisation reporting a $90.1 million net profit.

In its annual report, DHA said that was $5.8 million above the budget estimate.

Land sales from major residential developments generated revenue of $112.5 million, with a gross margin of 37.7 per cent, compared to a budget estimate of 29.2 per cent.

This gave the federal government a dividend of $54 million – $3.5 million better than expected.

DHA is a government business enterprise created in 1988 to provide housing for defence personnel.

It’s one of Australia’s largest residential property managers with 18,577 properties under management worth about $10 billion.

DHA is also a major land developer with $1 billion worth of properties in capital cities and regional centres.

In the last budget, the government announced plans for a scoping study to see if it was worth selling off the organisation.

That’s being conducted by the Department of Finance and will be considered in next year’s budget.