Letlole targets P800m portfolio by 2016
Keikantse Lesemela | Tuesday April 1, 2014 11:13
Presenting the company’s results last week for the six months period ended December 2013, Letlole La Rona acting CEO, Sethebe Manake said the company continues to seek more investment opportunities with expansion of an industrial property well underway and almost complete.
“The expansion of the industrial property in Gaborone West Industrial is nearing completion with 80 percent of the project completed. The project is anticipated to be done in April 2014,” said Manake.
Manake said the rentals from the project are expected to increase income by 26 percent.
“The development is estimated to cost up to P41 million and we believe that this asset will increase the portfolio value by a little over 10 percent and bring us closer to our target of a portfolio worth P800 million by 2016,” she said.
The asset value of the company stands at P494 million from P443 million in the previous period, accounting to a 12 percent growth.
The 2013 annual report for Letlole La Rona states that over the years the property industry has been growing tremendously with retail properties and commercial spaces mushrooming every now and then. “This is quite challenging but we are confident that Letlole La Rona has what it takes to perform well in the coming financial year and the years that will follow.”
The report also states that as a property investment company, Letlole La Rona remains aware of these trends and prepares to take the right opportunities that will position it in a path of growing yields and good performance for the shareholders in the long term.
The report also states that in comparison to the rest of Africa’s cities, Gaborone fares well in terms of GDP per capita, which speak to, spending ability a green area for income driven property investments. “While we may not be located in the cream of the African run, we can however deliver the income and therefore the returns, with less perceived risk.” In the period, the company maintained a steady growth in profitability as it recorded 23.7 percent increase in profits to P50.17 million for the six months period ended 31 December 2013.
On the property space Letlole’s rental income was almost flat at P30.8 million.
The property company, which holds a 44.3 percent of its portfolio as industrial properties, realised an increase in earnings per linked units of 20 percent from 14.13 units in December 2012 to 16.98 units 2013.
For the period, the board declared a 6.6 thebe dividend, extending its dividend yields to about 9.5 percent the highest on the domestic board.