Emira returns to positive distribution in H1
South African real estate investment trust (Reit) Emira Property Fund on Wednesday declared an interim dividend of 70.65c a share for the six months ended December 31 - a 2.5% year-on-year increase.
The fund returned to positive distribution growth in the period owing to the significant leasing progress made, better use of capital, as well as stringent cost control.
"This was achieved despite continued tough trading conditions, where the ongoing oversupply of offices has required us to be more competitive by reducing rentals and increasing tenant incentivisation," the fund said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the fund reported a 5.6% fall in revenue, owing to the disposal of 15 properties and the deconsolidation of Enyuka Property Fund. However, this also resulted in a 10.2% decrease in property expenses.
Further, Emira's stable portfolio performed well, with a "pleasing" like-for-like growth of 7.9% for the six months, driven by contractual escalations and the filling of vacancies.
The fund also reported notably lower vacancies, having implemented an intelligent relocation initiative, resulting in a decrease from 7% at December 31, 2016, to 4.5% at the end of the period under review.
Urban retail sector vacancies have decreased to 2.2%, well below the national average of 4.2%. While industrial vacancies have increased marginally to 2.1%, it remained below the national average of 3.5%.
Emira's office sector vacancies have significantly improved, decreasing to 9.4% from 16.1% and the fund continued to "aggressively" manage its vacancies through a combination of tenant retention and letting strategies and, in some instances, the sale of noncore properties.
In line with its strategic priorities, a total of 77% by gross lettable area of expiring tenants were renewed and retained during the six months.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation