Safari’s Namibia investment grows

Safari Investments RSA chief executive Francois Marais. Picture: Supplied

Safari Investments RSA chief executive Francois Marais. Picture: Supplied

Published Jun 24, 2016

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Johannesburg - Safari Investments RSA, the listed property company focused largely on township retail property, has increased the capital budget for the Platz am Meer Waterfront in Swakopmund in Namibia by R64.6 million to a total investment value of R639.64m.

Read also: Safari expects rise in headline earnings

Francois Marais, the chief executive of Safari, said the construction of the centre was progressing according to schedule and it was set to open in September, with the upmarket residential apartments set for completion in April 2017.

Anchor tenants in the development include Woolworths, Checkers, Dis-Chem and Edgars.

The Platz am Meer Waterfront is the first cross-border investment by Safari Investments, which listed on the JSE in April 2014.

Safari is currently busy with several other developments and extensions to its portfolio, which comprises 19 properties.

Five of these properties are established retail centres, of which three are serving as regional centres in their areas.

Marais said the Maunde Centre in Atteridgeville in Pretoria was gaining momentum, while construction of the new Nkomo Village was under way with Pick n Pay and Boxer secured as anchors.

He said Nkomo Village was a small regional centre of about 20 553 square metres anchored by Pick n Pay and Boxer along with other national retailers, such as Builders Warehouse Superstore, Pep and McDonalds.

“Groundwork has been completed and we are ready to commence construction. The anticipated opening date is set for early 2018. This development will bring Safari’s complete offering in Atteridgeville to 75 000m2,” he said.

Marais said a fourth phase was under way for Thabong Centre in Sebokeng that would increase its size to 45 000m2, while negotiations were in the final stages to secure land adjacent to the Denlyn centre in Mamelodi, which on completion of the redevelopment would increase its size to 70 000m2 and make it a huge regional retail node.

“Apart from these valuable extensions, we successfully acquired 13 000m2 of land on the intersection of Lynnwood and Roderick Roads in Lynnwood, Pretoria. The strategic value of this property is fantastic and we are very positive about the prospects,” he said.

Marais said Safari Investments had in its financial year to March made its first property investment other than pure retail with the acquisition of a day hospital, the Soweto Private Day-Hospital, in partnership with Advanced Health.

He said the hospital opened its doors in February and was operated by a subsidiary company of Advanced Health.

“It has proven to us that Safari is ready to diversify and strive towards establishing various service offerings to serve our communities even better.”

Safari grew the value of its portfolio by 23 percent to R2.2 billion in the year to March. Revenue rose by 22 percent to R172m from R140m.

The weighted average rental income a square metre across the retail portfolio grew by 8.3 percent in the year.

Vacancies increased to 4 percent from 1 percent of the total income generating retail space, which was attributed to relocations to upgrade the tenant mix. Safari distributed 34c a share in July last year and 34c a share in December.

Marais said developments and extensions being undertaken by Safari would maintain its attractive portfolio growth and in the current economic climate with its unique challenges, they had positioned Safari primarily to focus on strengthening and consolidation of assets.

Shares in Safari remained unchanged yesterday to close at R7.15 on the JSE.

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