Johannesburg - The board of listed property fund Resilient has approved capital expenditure (capex) on its retail assets of more than R2 billion, including R1.5bn on the expansion of the Irene Village Mall in Pretoria.
The fund said yesterday that it was waiting for transfer of the last portion of land that would facilitate the extension of the 31 818 square metre Irene Village Mall to an 80 000m2 regional mall. It said transfer of this land was expected in July. The fund is already expanding a number of its retail assets.
Diamond Pavilion is being expanded at a cost of R104.5 million to accommodate an enlargement of Edgars and Woolworths and the addition of 145 parking bays; Kathu Village Mall is being extended at a cost of R33m to accommodate the expansion of the Spar Superstore and Woolworths; Boardwalk Inkwazi is being extended at a cost of R76m to accommodate the expansion of Truworths and Woolworths; and construction of the expansion to I’langa Mall at a cost of R478m to introduce a substantial entertainment offering and a number of new fashion tenants commenced in October.
The Diamond Pavilion expansion is scheduled to be completed in September, Kathu Village Mall in April and Boardwalk Inkwazi in November.
The fund said major extensions that were in various stages of planning included Limpopo Mall, Mafikeng Mall, The Galleria, The Grove and Tzaneen Lifestyle Centre, but the timing of these extensions was dependent on various approvals. Resilient yesterday reported 25.2 percent growth in dividends to 232.46c a share for the six months to December from the 185.62c in the previous corresponding period.
It said 7 percent of this growth was attributable to the impact of capital raisings, particularly its rights issue in June, which reduced the cost of funding.
The fund said a further 8 percent stemmed from dividends from Fortress B that were ahead of budget and New Europe Property Investments and Rockcastle, which benefited from rand depreciation.
Des de Beer, the managing director and chief executive of Resilient, said the fund’s portfolio of retail properties continued to perform well despite the challenging economic environment.
The company’s share price dropped 0.05 percent to close trade at R115 on the JSE yesterday.
BUSINESS REPORT