Accelerate Property Fund, the real estate group with a focus on Fourways, grew its portfolio 24% year-on-year to March to R8.4bn, owing to strong investment activity. This was while its net asset value climbed 25.5% for the reporting period.
Accelerate chief operating officer Andrew Costa said the growth was largely because of the acquisition of a portfolio worth R850m from advisory firm KPMG.
The number of properties in Accelerate's total portfolio increased from 52 to 61 at year-end.
Accelerate had also managed to grow its income payouts more strongly than many of its competitors had because of its focus on investing in strong nodes, Costa said.
Accelerate reported year-on-year dividend growth of 9.1% for the year to March, translating into a dividend per share of 53.67c, up from 49.21c in the comparative reporting period.
"Accelerate remained focused on maximising rental income and tenant recoveries, reducing vacancies, effectively managing cost, increasing the quality of our property portfolio and creating value through selective acquisitions," Costa said.
Accelerate is revamping the Fourways Mall. Construction to expand and upgrade Fourways Mall began towards the end of 2015.
"Fourways has been identified as one of the fastest-growing and populated areas in Johannesburg.
"A number of role players recently invested heavily in infrastructure upgrades, and Fourways Mall ... plans to position Fourways as a new central business district, underpinned by the surrounding residential areas."
Chief investment officer at Grindrod Asset Management, Ian Anderson, said Accelerate was well-positioned to grow. "We remain confident that Accelerate offers exceptional value in the listed property sector," Anderson said.
Source: Business Day
