June 11 2026 16:00
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Fairvest Limited has announced its results for the six months to end March 2026, with an interim distribution per A share of 71.82 cents (March 2025: 69.66) cents and 25.94 cents (March 2025: 23.10) per B share. The latter represents an 12.3% growth rate, significantly outpacing CPI. This all stands up well compared with other real estate investment trusts (Reits).
CEO Darren Wilder said Fairvest was making “consistent progress in its strategy of repositioning toward a retail-focused portfolio through the disposal of non-core assets and acquisitions”.
Fairvest owns and manages a direct property portfolio of 130 retail, office, and industrial assets valued at R13.5bn, held directly and through subsidiaries. Fairvest is comfortably one of the highest rated mid-cap property counters listed on the JSE.
The company’s like-for-like net property income increased by 8% compared to the previous period, with 240 new letting deals and 210 renewals concluded during the six months, with a 44.4 month weighted average lease expiry (WALE) on the new deals).
The portfolio recorded positive rental reversions from 4.8% to 5.7% with its weighted average lease escalation at 6.7% and a weighted average lease expiry of 29.4 months. Vacancies edged up from 4.1% to 5.1% with a tenant retention of 83.8%.
As many as 147 new leases were concluded in its retail portfolio totalling 27 017m2 with Fairvest’s office portfolio’s average gross rental on new deals concluded at R140.64 per m2 (March 2025: R114.95 per m2) and a WALE of 52 months.
The company’s industrial portfolio saw an increase in rental reversions of 8.4% on renewals compared to 6.8% at year end.
Fairvest disposed of one commercial property worth R65m in Goodwood, Cape Town, during the period and it is in the process of buying two shopping centres owned by the Muller Group. These are the Jozini Mall and the Tugela Ferry Mall in KwaZulu-Natal which will be bought for a combined R700.4m.
Total capital expenditure for the period amounted to R126.9m of which R18.5m relates to investments in its solar initiatives.
Onepath, a subsidiary of Fairvest (55.3% interest), invested R667.4m in township fibre network infrastructure, equating to a total investment to date of R1.2bn, of which Fairvest contributed R693.8m, with the total dividend received from Onepath for the period having increased to R37.8m from R3m at the end of March 2025.
The fibre infrastructure is leased to a fibre network operator that provides high-quality internet access to township homes and communities.
After the end of the reporting period, Fairvest raised R900 million through a book build, which will be utilised to partially settle the purchase consideration for the Muller Group acquisition, to fund ongoing investment in Onepath Investments, and to reduce debt in anticipation of pending asset transfers.
Fairvest’s outstanding loans amounted to R4.3bn as at 31st March 2026.
The group’s weighted average cost of debt at the end of the period improved to 8.76%, down from 9.05% in September 2025, and the weighted average maturity of its loans is 2.1 years. Currently, 61.3% of its debt is hedged through interest rate swaps, with a weighted average maturity of 1.0 years (September 2025: 93.6%).
Fairvest’s SA Reit loan-to-value (LTV) ratio sat at a low 26.6% (September 2025: 25.6%) with its interest cover ratio at least 4 times.
Fairvest’s full year guidance had improved, and the group anticipated distributable earnings per B share for the full 2026 financial year to be between 53.4 cents and 54.4 cents, which is an 11% to 13% increase on the 2025 financial year. The distribution per A share will increase by 5% as per the company’s share split rules.
Fairvest currently holds a 23.6% interest in Dipula Properties.
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
