Dividend
The Board deemed it prudent to deleverage the fund and has therefore resolved to not declare a full year dividend for the year ended 31 August 2021 (31 August 2020: Nil).
Company prospects
The successful conclusion of the R6.3 billion office portfolio disposal announced post the reporting date will provide impetus to the company’s strategy to deleverage and optimize its balance sheet by reducing the loan-tovalue and restructure the business as a retail focused fund. On conclusion of the transaction, the company expects to resume dividend payments to shareholders, provided that a stable macro-economic environment is maintained with no material tenant failures or prolonged economic lockdown periods.
Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic during the reporting period and ongoing market uncertainty around the future economic repercussions of the Omicron strain at the time of writing, the Board remains cautiously optimistic of a more stable and improving retail environment on the back of ongoing vaccine roll-outs. The domestic operating environment is expected to remain challenging, with an increasing interest rate cycle, load shedding and unsustainable municipal service charges being of particular concern.
The company will continue to apply itself to improving the retail portfolio’s fundamentals through ongoing defensive and value enhancing capital expenditure, the filling of vacancies, lease renewals and timeous rental collections.
