V&A Waterfront Growthpoint’s ‘standout performer’

Growthpoint Properties – which has a portfolio valued at around R179 billion and a JSE market cap of just over R41 billion – says the V&A Waterfront was a standout performer for the group’s half-year to the end of December 2023.

The real estate investment trust (Reit), which owns the trophy property in Cape Town on a 50/50 basis together with the Public Investment Corporation, noted that the V&A Waterfront’s strong performance was “driven by the positive impact of increased tourism with distributable income increasing by 13.7% to R380.7 million” from the precinct asset.

The double-digit growth is in stark contrast to Growthpoint’s overall interim financial performance, with the group reporting on Wednesday that both Distributable Income Per Share (Dips) and its Dividend Per Share (DPS) declined 8.6% for the period.

It declared an interim dividend of 58.8 cents per share (cps) and reported Dips of 71.2 cps (HY23: 77.9 cps).

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SA’s largest private-sector commercial landlord said that it expects full-year (FY2024) Dips to decline by between 10% and 12%.

“High interest rates continue to negatively impact distributable income of the group, with total cost of funding increasing by 16.9% to R2 127 million [HY23: R1 819 million],” Growthpoint highlighted in its results Sens announcement.

There have been several reports about the boom in tourism in Cape Town over the festive season from both the private sector and provincial authorities in the Western Cape, representing a strong recovery after the Covid-19 lockdowns fallout.

Growthpoint is planning a multi-billion-rand further expansion of the V&A Waterfront, but details are still being finalised for the multi-year development.

Listen/read: Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront plans ‘jewel in the crown’ development in post-Covid future

Growthpoint’s share price

Listen to Suren Naidoo speaking to SA Reit Association chair and Growthpoint SA CEO Estienne de Klerk on The Property Pod (or read the transcript):

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.