Oryx Properties has announced notable improvements in its operational metrics for the year ended 30 June 2023. This includes rental reversions increasing to 3.7% (2022: -7.3%) and debtors’ collections improving to 101% (2022: 96%).
Total capital expenditure amounted to N$72 million (2022: N$32 million). Capital expenditure incurred during the year included a N$4 million solar project to Maerua Mall, Gustav Voigts Centre, Erf 135 Scania and Urban Village at Elisenheim. Also, N$22 million was incurred to upgrade the Gustav Voigts Checkers offering.
Furthermore, N$30 million was incurred on Erf 3519 Iscor Street with the construction of a new industrial warehouse. The group then entered into a lease agreement, acquiring the Maerua Crossings right-of-use investment property to the tune of N$6 million.
Oryx Properties’ CEO Ben Jooste expressed his satisfaction with the annual results. “We are on the right track towards achieving our growth strategy, and are geared to deal with our challenges while finding more opportunities to add value to our stakeholders.” He noted that one of the current challenges was the retention of tenants, where a decrease to 84% (2022: 97%) was perceived. Likewise, finance costs increased by 20% during the year, mainly due to interest rate hikes.
The group advised that the portfolio was independently valued at N$3.1 billion (2022: N$2.8 billion) by Mills Fitchet Magnus Penny, with a positive fair value adjustment of N$100 million (2022: N$47 million).
Francis Heunis, CFO of Oryx Properties, stated that the positive fair value adjustment was mainly attributed to the retail segments, with Maerua Mall and Baines Centre increasing by N$40 million and N$21 million, respectively.
“We are proud to say that the increases are underpinned by solid tenancies in place where positive rental growth and reversions, and specifically those of the anchor tenancies, were realised during the year. We thank our loyal tenants for their consistent support, and look forward to many more mutually-beneficial years.”
Other milestones from the past financial year included a debt issuance of N$248.5 million on the Namibian stock exchange, where the ORYJ25 bond was oversubscribed by 140%, and the core plus mandate that was awarded to Oryx to build a property portfolio as part of our asset light initiatives over the next few years. Progress was made on embarking on our Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) strategy with the aim to enhance prosperity for all our stakeholders.
“One of the highlights after the financial year has been the acquisition of Dunes Mall (Pty) Ltd. This has been a big step towards achieving our growth strategy, which aims at expanding the total asset base to N$4.5 billion over a three-year period ending 2025. Management is driven to fully onboard Dunes Mall into the Oryx stable, and is seeing a lot of potential for growth at the coastal region of Namibia. We are also investigating various other acquisition opportunities within Namibia, and are excited about the many opportunities out there,” Jooste enthused.