Investec Property Fund delivers distribution growth up by 7.1%
Sam Leon, Investec Property Fund CEO.
Investec Property Fund (“the Fund”) has delivered a strong set of results for the six month period to 30 September 2012, underpinned by solid property fundamentals, with the property portfolio growing 11.8%.
Associated with the solid growth in the portfolio, the Fund announces a 7.1% increase in their interim distribution to 46.83 cpu from 43.73 cpu.
Sam Leon, CEO of the Fund said, “We have successfully grown our net property income by 29.3% on the back of recent, yield enhancing property acquisitions, and as a result of our continued focus on tenant retention and lease renewals, kept the vacancy rate within the portfolio pleasingly low at 3.3%.”
The Fund’s Balance sheet also remained strong with a reported gearing ratio of only 19.5%, providing significant headroom for the Fund to actively pursue acquisitions in the future. The results exclude any impact of the successful R1.5 billion rights offer which concluded on 5 November 2012 and the associated property acquisitions that will see the property portfolio increase to R4.2 billion from R2.3 billion and gearing reduce further to 11%.
Investec Property Fund debuted on the JSE in April 2011 and invests in direct real estate with the objective of growing its asset base to generate income returns for Shareholders by building a quality portfolio underpinned by strong rental income.
The Fund includes a spread of property assets in the office, retail and industrial sectors located primarily in Gauteng but with good representation in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Its capital structure comprises a linked unit, being one share linked to one variable rate, unsecured, subordinated debenture.
