Equites Property Fund has declared a distribution per share of 66.5c at the halfway stage of its year and is targeting the upper end of its guidance of 130c-135c for the full year.
The specialist owner and developer of prime logistics assets in SA and the UK reported its net asset value per share decreased 4.8% for the six months ended August to R16.32, from R17.14 at end-February.
Gross property revenue was 62% higher at R1.995bn, while distributable earnings were 5.4% higher at R538.4m. Headline earnings per share rose 17.7% to 53.7c. Its loan-to-value ratio (LTV) was 41% and it has R2.2bn of cash and unutilised facilities.
In the first half the group focused on fundamentals and simplifying the core business, while continuing with its disposal programme. It completed the disposal of a further R600m of assets which, along with a successful dividend reinvestment programme in May, has funded R900m of development expenditure.
Equites expects to dispose of a further R900m of SA assets in the second half.
The disposal of a UK asset valued at £39m is expected to be completed in the second half, with two further UK assets identified for sale.
These disposals, offset by R600m of SA developments in the second half is forecast to reduce the LTV to about 38% by February next year.
The SA and the UK property portfolios are performing in line with expectations, delivering strong like-for-like growth of 5.6% in the SA portfolio and an uplift of 7.4% in the UK portfolio as a result of rent reviews, the company said.
The group’s portfolio is characterised by robust fundamentals with 98.6% of rental income derived from A-grade tenants, zero vacancy at the date of this announcement, and a weighted average lease expiry of 13.2 years, it added.
The group increased rooftop solar generation capacity increased to 23.5MW from 20.2MW at end-February.
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