The Observer - 23 March 2014 - 13
AfSun shareholders approve Dawn deal
A
HARARE
frican Sun shareholders on
Friday voted to dispose of
nearly $6 million worth of Dawn
Properties’ stock to Brainworks
Capital, in a bid to reduce interest expenses.
African Sun chairman Bekithemba Nkomo
told shareholders at the company’s joint
annual general meeting and extraordinary
general meeting that the sale of 406,446,976
units to Lengrah Investments, representing
16,45 percent of Dawn, would ease the cost
of borrowings.
Chief executive Shingi Munyeza told
shareholders that revenues for the five months
to February were four percent down on the
previous year due to lower occupancies.
“This drop in revenue is mitigated by a
one percent drop in operating expenses and
interest cost savings of 30 percent. EBITDA
is however ahead of budget but down from
the same period last year,” he said.
The interest cost savings were made
following the first sale of Dawn stock worth
$4,2 million last October.
Revenue growth will be driven by
conferencing and an increase in foreign
arrivals, particularly from the United States
and Europe as the local market continues to
face liquidity constraints, Munyeza said, while
arrivals from South Africa decreased during
the period under review due to a weakening
Rand which restricted travel.
Amber Hotel in Accra, Ghana, would break
even in May, buoyed by revenues which have
been doubling every month since December
last year, Munyeza said.■
Low occupancies lowered African Sun revenues for five months to February
New industrial area north of Harare
T
here is a new light
industrial
suburb
planned for Harare
within easy access of
the Northern, Eastern and Western
suburbs.
This new development will be a
huge advantage for people seeking
employment closer to home and
also for more easy access for the
Stock
market
closes week
bearish
T
residents of the nearby suburbs.
Speaking about the new
development, Patrick Kennan of
Kennan Properties says: “None
of the land earmarked for this
industry is suitable as a residential
area because of its close proximity
to a busy main road, the Pomona
quarry and the city dump. For these
reasons, the re-zoning of this area
to a light industrial use is particularly
appropriate, making good use
of land that would otherwise lie
unused.”
Some
industrial
properties
already exist on Harare Drive and
some very significant buildings have
already been erected. These are
situated not far from the Alpes Rd
intersection and adjacent to the area
currently being used for the growing
of instant lawns.
In addition to this: A 1.73 hectare
site on the North/West corner of
Harare Drive and Alpes Rd has
been re-zoned for light industrial
purposes and sold by Kennan
Properties for further development.
On the North/East corner a 10
hectare site has been sub divided
into 29 light industrial stands.
The majority of the stands here
have already been sold by Kennan
Properties and internal roads and
water reticulation networks are in
the process of being installed.
On land nearby but a little further
up Alps Road, a further block of
land is being sub-divided into 51
stands, again for light industrial
purposes. The sales campaign for
these stands is also being handled
by Kennan Properties and will be
launched later this year.
“Demand for the stands has
been high,” says Kennan, “and
this has been clearly driven by the
convenient location.
“The majority of Harare’s
industrial sites are to the South
of the city and so easy access to
these sites from Northern, Eastern
and Western suburbs is difficult
especially nowadays with more and
more cars on our roads”■
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