South Africa: Fairvest sharpens focus on retail strategy serving low-income communities
Fairvest Limited is making clear progress in its strategic transformation toward becoming a retail-focused Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) aimed at servicing South Africa's low-income communities.
Chief executive officer Darren Wilder said: "Fairvest is making consistent progress in transforming its diverse portfolio by improving asset quality while pursuing its goal of becoming a retail-only REIT focused on serving low-income communities in South Africa.
"This strategy involves disposing of non-core assets and reinvesting in retail-focused properties. Currently, approximately 70% of revenue is generated from retail properties."
This retail repositioning has been supported by recent acquisitions in line with Fairvest's strategy to expand its retail asset base.
New centre acquisitions
In its latest financial results for the six months to 31 March 2025, the Group announced the acquisition of five shopping centres across KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, valued at R477.7m with a blended yield of 9.81%.
Properties include Nquthu Shopping Centre, Ulundi Shopping Centre, Eyethu Junction, Shoprite Manguzi, and Thembalethu Square in George. Anchor tenants at these centres include Shoprite, Boxer, and SuperSpar — essential retailers for surrounding communities.
Fairvest owns and manages a property portfolio of 127 assets across the retail, office, and industrial sectors, valued at R12.5bn. The average property value stands at R98.1m. During the six months leading to 31 March 2025, the Group increased its holding in Dipula Properties Limited from 5% to 26.3%, a move that was accretive to earnings, loan-to-value ratio, and net asset value.
For the interim period, Fairvest declared a distribution of 69.66 cents per A share and 23.10 cents per B share — with the B share dividend representing growth of 8.8%, ahead of the Consumer Price Index.
Solid growth forecast
Wilder expressed confidence in the Group's trajectory, stating: 'The portfolio continues to benefit from the disciplined execution of our strategic objectives – vacancies remain consistently low, tenant quality has improved, and the portfolio remains operationally robust.
"These solid fundamentals, combined with conservative balance-sheet management, position the Group for sustained growth.'
Fairvest expects distributable earnings per B share to rise by 8% to 10% for the 2025 financial year. In accordance with its Memorandum of Incorporation, A share distributions will grow by the lesser of 5% or the latest CPI figure.
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