Mara Delta to lift annual dividend

Pan-African property fund Mara Delta is on track to grow distributions between 2% and 4% for the financial year to June, as it weathers a multitude of headwinds on the continent.

“We are very pleased with declaring an interim dividend of 6.12 US cents per share despite some challenging geopolitical and economic headwinds. Our focus ... on our US dollar-based leases has mitigated these risks to a large extent,” said CEO Bronwyn Corbett.

The property fund’s strategy was to invest in buildings that it could fill with blue-chip, often multinational, tenants.

During the reporting period, Delta grew its rental income 24%, from $10.7m to $13.2m on the back of asset acquisitions in the second half of the prior financial year.

Corbett said the firm had a yield-accretive pipeline valued at $244m under transfer, which would increase revenue further as it came on stream.

The company is working on plans to reduce its cost of debt. The company’s loan to value increased to 51% from 48.9% in the prior reporting period.

“Our business model is based on structured investments underpinned by property assets,” she said.

“Debt is a major lever in this equation and the team successfully reduced our average weighted cost of capital by 0.42% to 5.80%, in line with our strategy to further diversify our sources of finance.”

Mara has grown its assets more than threefold since listing in mid-2014, from less than $140m to about $504.4m, which includes acquisitions that have not yet transferred.