Vukile delivers another strong set of half-year results with positive trading
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Laurence Rapp, CEO of Vukile Property Fund talks about Vukile Property Fund (JSE: VKE), the specialist retail REIT invested in South Africa and Spain, has reported funds from operations (FFO) of 80.8 cents per share and declared an interim dividend of 47.32 cents per share for the six months ended 30 September 2022. This strong performance places Vukile comfortably on track to deliver its guided full-year FFO and dividend per share growth of 5% to 7%.
Laurence Rapp, CEO of Vukile Property Fund, comments, “We are pleased with the excellent operational performance achieved in both the South African and Spanish markets. Our strong results show that we have sailed safely through the recent turbulent times and metrics are exceeding pre-COVID levels. The South African reversionary rental cycle has turned positive, which together with ongoing positive reversions in Spain, signals the increasing income generated from our assets.”
Vukile holds a defensive portfolio of property assets to the value of R35bn, of which 44% are in South Africa and 56% in Spain (held through its 89.6% held Madrid-listed subsidiary Castellana Properties Socimi), offering diversified income streams across different macro-economic drivers. Both businesses are underpinned by blue-chip retail tenants reporting good performance and upward-trending trading. As a specialist retail property owner, Vukile is uniquely positioned to optimise value from its assets and grew its net asset value (NAV) by 6.6% in the period.
The SA portfolio delivered another set of strong results, with net operating income increasing by 4% and property values increasing by 3%. Vacancies further reduced to 2.3%, and retail rental reversions rallied to +1.6% from -2.4%, with 79% of all leases reverting positively or equal to previous levels. Turnovers have surpassed pre-Covid benchmarks, with shopper numbers 11% ahead of the previous comparable period. Like-for-like trading density has increased by 7.0% with notable growth on all key categories across the portfolio.
Laurence Rapp, CEO of Vukile Property Fund, comments, “We are pleased with the excellent operational performance achieved in both the South African and Spanish markets. Our strong results show that we have sailed safely through the recent turbulent times and metrics are exceeding pre-COVID levels. The South African reversionary rental cycle has turned positive, which together with ongoing positive reversions in Spain, signals the increasing income generated from our assets.”
Vukile holds a defensive portfolio of property assets to the value of R35bn, of which 44% are in South Africa and 56% in Spain (held through its 89.6% held Madrid-listed subsidiary Castellana Properties Socimi), offering diversified income streams across different macro-economic drivers. Both businesses are underpinned by blue-chip retail tenants reporting good performance and upward-trending trading. As a specialist retail property owner, Vukile is uniquely positioned to optimise value from its assets and grew its net asset value (NAV) by 6.6% in the period.
The SA portfolio delivered another set of strong results, with net operating income increasing by 4% and property values increasing by 3%. Vacancies further reduced to 2.3%, and retail rental reversions rallied to +1.6% from -2.4%, with 79% of all leases reverting positively or equal to previous levels. Turnovers have surpassed pre-Covid benchmarks, with shopper numbers 11% ahead of the previous comparable period. Like-for-like trading density has increased by 7.0% with notable growth on all key categories across the portfolio.
