Despite facing some of the toughest challenges in its history, Texton Property Fund declared a final dividend of 41.36c a share for the financial year ended June 30.
The total dividend for the year amounted to 89.31c, below guidance, and lower than the total dividend of 102.8c declared in the prior financial year.
“We operated in a tough political environment both in South Africa and the UK, a weak
macroeconomic climate in South Africa and challenging times in the property market,” Texton commented on Monday.
Texton’s property income decreased by 5.4% year-on-year to R416.9-million, while the number of properties in its portfolio decreased by 9.3% to 49 and the value of its portfolio decreased by 1.9% to R5.4-billion.
The company on Monday said it was nearing the completion of its portfolio rationalisation.
Looking ahead, the company believes its portfolio is “defensively” positioned in both South Africa and the UK, but has warned that vacancies in its South African portfolio would likely increase in the short term, negatively impacting on net property income for the 2019 financial year.
“We continue to place significant focus on tenant retention and the filling of our vacancies through active asset management,” the company stated.