Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2018 | Page 44

LISTED
Making sense of REITs
A
South African REIT is a listed property investment vehicle that is similar to internationally
recognised REIT structures from around the world. Listed Company REITs or Trust REITs
are publicly traded on the JSE REIT board and qualify for the REIT tax dispensation.
EPP posts 12% half-year distribution per share
growth
EPP, is the largest owner of
retail real estate in Poland.
EPP is listed on the stock
exchanges in Johannesburg
( JSE) and Luxembourg
(Euro MTF). It operates
like a REIT, with a current
portfolio of 19 retail prop-
erties, six office buildings
and two development sites
in Warsaw, Poland with one
Hadley Dean, CEO, EPP
currently under construc-
tion, offering a total of over
835,000 sqm in Poland’s 20 biggest cities.
EPP grew closer to its stated goal of becoming a pure retail-
focused company by expanding the share of retail property in its
portfolio from 74% from the previous year to 85%, with retail
gross lettable area (GLA) rising to 638,815m2.
EPP posted distribution growth of 12% per share to EUR
5.82 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2018. EPP’s results
show distributable earnings increased 32% to EUR48.3 million.
Net property income growth increased 45% to EUR66.2 million.
EPP’s successful acquisition of the first tranche of its three-
phase M1 portfolio deal added 194,000m2 to its retail property
portfolio, increasing total income-producing assets to more than
EUR2 billion.
Hadley Dean, CEO of EPP, comments: “We are pleased with
the performance in the first half. Even with the new Sunday
sales ban, our asset and property management teams were able
to achieve strong returns. The retail sector in Poland continues
to be fuelled by a growing middle class, and our vacancy rates
remain below 1%.”
Octodec positions
itself for sustainable
value creation
Jeffrey Wapnick, CEO,
Octodec
42
JSE listed REIT Octodec
Investments Limited today
announced its full year results
which were impacted by
pressure on rental income
growth. Octodec’s R12.9
billion portfolio comprising
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
306 properties, realised like-for-like growth of 2.6% in rental
income and had a total core occupancy level of 88.4%. Total
revenue increased by 3.1% while property operating expenses
increased by 2.5%.
 Jeffrey Wapnick CEO of Octodec says, “We achieved some
rental income growth and kept the increase in operating costs
relatively low while bad debt write-offs were maintained at
acceptable levels. Residential vacancies which saw significant
competitive pressures, specifically in Johannesburg CBD and
Hatfield, was a key focus area for us. Marketing efforts and an
enhancement of the tenant offering resulted in a reduction in
vacancies to 5.8% at year end.” 
Octodec acquired the remaining 50% of Gerlan Properties
Proprietary Limited (Gerlan), at an initial yield of 9.25%.
The property houses a Toyota dealership, situated in Gezina,
Tshwane.
Twenty non-core or underperforming properties were
sold during the period at a combined exit yield of 7.9% and
a combined premium of 1.9% to book value. Ten of the sales
transferred during the financial year for a total consideration of
R61.6 million. A further two properties were transferred after
the year end for a total consideration of R69.8 million. Transfer
of the remaining eight properties for a total consideration of
R92.1 million is expected to take place within the first half of
the 2019 financial year.
Wapnick concluded:  “The country continues to experience
pressure from poor economic growth, increasing unemployment
and higher costs of living.  Strong demand continues to
be experienced in our core CBD nodes for both retail and
residential space however affordability remains depressed in the
current environment.
Atlantic Leaf Proper-
ties declares a 4.65
GBP pence interim
dividend
Atlantic Leaf Properties
Limited
(ALP),
the
Mauritian-based real estate
company
that
focuses
on commercial property
Paul Leaf-Wright, CEO,
assets
in
strategically
Atlantic Leaf
positioned light-industrial
and distribution nodes in
the UK, today reported its results for the six months ended 31
August 2018. The company had a total of GBP 374 million in