Oryx Properties has secured a N$47-million ABSA development loan to fund the first phase of the expansion of Maerua Mall.
According to Oryx Properties’ CEO Ben Jooste, the expansion project is scheduled for this year and will include a new area towards the Jan Jonker side of the centre to host outside restaurants, with pre-letting already underway.
“The first phase leasing is underway with an 80% pre-let condition,” said Jooste.
The Namibian Stock Exchange-listed company, in its interim results for the period ended 31 December 2022, reclassified its Channel Life building as an investment property and again disclosed it under non-current assets “due to the low probability of realising the sale in the near future”, having previously classified it as an investment property held-for-sale in the FY22 results.
Oryx Properties during the period reported an after-tax profit of N$33.8 million ($2.2 million), an 8.7% increase. Earnings attributable to linked units (EPU) rose by 16.8% yearly to 93.14 cents per unit, while headline earnings attributable to linked units rose by 91.0% annually to 31.54 cents per unit.
According to management, rental reversions came in at 7.0% during the first six months, following tenant collections averaging 104% with all segments recording revenue growth.
“The retail portfolio encouragingly logged a rebound in revenue of 9.7% year on year to N$105.4 million ($6.9 million). This, however, remains N$12.8 million ($835,555) below the pre-covid interim revenues for this segment,” according to IJG.
Oryx’s industrial and residential portfolios saw lower single-digit growth rates of 1.3% and 2.4%, respectively, despite the fact that both of these segments were less affected by the pandemic and have seen positive revenue growth rates in recent years.
Oryx’s property portfolio was valued at N$2.96 billion ($192.9 million) by the directors at the end of 1H23, an increase of 1.8% from the June 2022 valuation (when including the Channel Life building).
Oryx announced in December that it intends to acquire 100% of the shareholding in Dunes Mall (Pty) Ltd in Walvis Bay for N$648.8 million ($42.3 million), translating to a 9.5% first-year yield.
“The acquisition will materially increase the value of the property portfolio and diversify the company from the concentration risk in Maerua Mall,” according to IJG, although noting the acquisition will increase Oryx’s exposure to the Namibian retail sector.
Meanwhile, at the end of 1H23, the retail portfolio accounted for 63% of Oryx’s total property portfolio.
The commercial vacancy factor for the company fell slightly from 5.4% at the end of FY22 to 6.1% in 1H23. Oryx’s cost-to-income ratio fell marginally from 35.3% in 1H22 to 34.9% in 1H23.
