October 9 2025 14:30
Equites’ share price has been on a run on since February but has lost some momentum today
Equites Property Fund CEO Andrea Taverna-Turisan
SOUTH AFRICA
JSE-listed industrial specialist landlord Equites Property Fund saw its share price fall by 1.05% to R16.08 by 14:00 on Thursday, a day on which it released financial results for the six months to end-August 2025. This is despite the share price running hard in recent months. The share price remains up 19.75% on a six-month basis and 10.54% year-to-date. In the past 90 days, the share price is up 5.18% and over the past seven days, it is up 1.18%.
Equites reported that its core assets had performed well in the reporting period due to robust rental growth and its tenants who honoured rent on their long term leases.
The group declared a distribution per share (DPS) of 69.04 cents, up 3.8% year on year, and repeated its full-year earnings guidance of between 140.62 cents and 143.29 cents per share, representing 5% to 7% growth. Net asset value per share rose 2.7% to R16.93, while the portfolio value increased to R28.3bn.
CEO Andrea Taverna-Turisan said the group’s portfolio fundamentals were strong in SA while it sold its UK assets.
Taverna-Turisan said Equites was pleased with the strong momentum generated in its portfolio during the period.
“The overall quality of the portfolio has improved through the disposal of older, non-core assets and the addition of new, ESG-compliant properties,” he said.
Equites’ market capitalisation is R13.3bn and the group owns total assets (non-current and current) worth R31.4bn.
The company said its vacancies were contained at 1.5%, with 99.1% of rental income derived from A-grade tenants and a weighted average lease expiry of 14.1 years. The company also reported like-for-like rental growth of 5.1%, expected to rise to between 5.5% and 6% once rental reversions normalise.
“Operational momentum was maintained, with six leases concluded across c.107 000 m². The like-for-like
portfolio rental growth amounted to 5.1% compared to the six months ended August 2024 and valuations increased by 4.0% compared to the last reporting date, February 2025,” the group said.
Equites disposed of R700m worth of assets during the period as part of a “phased exit from its UK assets”, it said. Taverna-Turisan has said on multiple occasions that it aims to redeploy proceeds into South African developments. Sales included properties in Bellville and Philippi, and Equites’ DPD facility in the UK, which was sold for £17.65m at a 5% yield.
The company’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio decreased to 37.2%, with R3.4bn in cash and undrawn facilities. Its all-in cost of debt in South Africa fell to 8.3%, and 97% of debt maturing beyond one year is hedged. Equites repurchased R130m in shares during the period at a 16% discount to NAV.
New rentals for logistics facilities in South Africa rose 7.3% year-on-year, with vacancies remaining low.
Equites was recently named preferred bidder to develop a 90 000m² facility for a JSE-listed FMCG company at Riverfields in Gauteng. The project, to be completed by June 2027, will be developed in partnership with Tridevco (Pty) Ltd and is expected to anchor future phases in the area.
The group is also pursuing two speculative developments in Meadowview and Riverfields, responding to strong tenant inquiries totalling 268 000m² over the past 18 months.
The company’s solar generation capacity increased to 27MW, with three new power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed during the period and six more in development. Over the next three years, the group plans to add an additional 5MW of rooftop solar capacity, expanding wheeling arrangements with municipalities to enhance returns and energy security.
“The group remains confident in its ability to drive sustainable value creation for shareholders, underpinned by an impeccable property portfolio and structural tailwinds in the sector,” said Taverna-Turisan.
alistair@propertyflash.co,za
