Growthpoint H1 distrib up 7.2% to 72.7c/unit

Property fund Growthpoint Properties (GRT) on Wednesday reported a 7.2% rise in distributions to 72.7c per linked unit in the six months to December 2012‚ from the corresponding period a year earlier.

The growth in distribution was higher than the forecast of 6.1%.

Growthpoint‚ the largest property fund on the JSE‚ said the increase in its unit price from R23 at June 30 2012 to R24.50 at December 31 2012 translated into an annualised capital growth of 13.1% for the period on review.

The distribution of 72.7c per linked unit accounts for an annualised income yield of 6.3%‚ providing a total return of 19.4%.

Apart from normal escalations in the South African property portfolio’s revenue‚ the increase in distributions was further influenced by the investment in Growthpoint Properties Australia (GOZ)‚ where a weaker rand against the Australian dollar was in Growthpoint's favour and distributions per unit from GOZ grew by 12.3%.

Net property income was R2.269bn‚ up from R1.944bn previously‚ with operating profit rising to R2.160bn from R1.869bn a year ago.

Growthpoint's total vacancy levels as a percentage of gross lettable area were 4.1% as at December 2012‚ from 4% in June.

“It is expected that growth in distributions for the full year to June 30 2013 will be between 7.0% and 7.5% higher than the prior period‚” the company said.