Africa-Press – South-Africa. Shares in Redefine Properties plunged more than 6% on Monday, after it cut its first-half dividend by more than 14% and reported that load shedding has cost it 1.5% of its first-half earnings.
Redefine Properties said its rental portfolio occupation rate remained stable during the first six months of the financial year at 92.5%, a slight decline from the 93.3% in the prior year. Despite revenue climbing more than a third to R4.8 billion, distributable earnings per share fell just over 9%.
Redefine, valued at about R27 billion on the JSE, has a portfolio of offices, industrial properties and shopping malls valued at R94 billion. Its buildings include large office buildings in Sandton and shopping centres like Mall of the South and Maponya Mall in Gauteng.
The group also has retail and logistics assets in Poland.
It expects to spend about R48 million on diesel during the 2023 financial year, half of it already spent during the first half.
In midday trade, Redefine’s shares were down just over 6% to R358, having fallen almost 15% so far in 2023.
Click here for details of Redefine’s shares as well as other info.
The increasing costs of keeping its assets powered during load shedding, together with rising interest rates, will cut the group’s profit during the coming years, it said. Redefine is working to install solar panels at its shopping malls to reduce its reliance on Eskom.
But there is limited opportunity to install solar panels, as the roof space on the shopping malls is insufficient to fully cover their electricity needs. The capital costs of installing storage batteries does not justify the expenditure, said chief operating officer Leon Kok.
Redefine is currently installing solar panels costing R142.5 million, in a project it hopes to complete by August this year.
The owner of the industrial space and shopping malls said all its properties are able to generate some electricity from diesel and solar panels.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
