Castleview Property Fund, which owns shopping centres, has upped its dividend for 2022 by more than two thirds, bolstered by its new asset in Cape Town and a meaningful recovery for SA’s Covid-19 battered retail sector.
Group revenue rose 16.1% to R57.6m in the year to end-February and headline earnings 72% to R19.17m, boosted by the non-recurrence of the R4.3m in rental discounts in the prior year.
Profits were still up almost a third from pre-pandemic levels, with the group also benefiting from the R36m acquisition of the Cravenby Shopping Centre in Goodwood, Cape Town, in May 2021.
Castleview now has a portfolio worth almost R360m with its other asset the Pier 14 Shopping Centre in Gqeberha, a small regional shopping centre anchored by large national tenants such as Shoprite, Pep, Ackermans and Mr Price. Cravenby is anchored by Shoprite and Pep.
Total dividends per share for the year amounted to 44.74c from 26.60c previously, representing about a R16.55m payout for a group valued at R187m on the JSE. The 2022 dividend is still down about 12.5% from what it paid out in 2020.
The group said 2022 saw significantly improved trading conditions as a result of a national recovery from the Covid-19 induced lockdown in 2020 and 2021, with national retail sales increasing by in excess of 10% over this period according to Stats SA.
This benefited the tenants at Pier 14, whose turnover for the 12 months increased 18.2% year on year, with foot traffic increasing 16.1%.
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