Mulling Australian exchange listing

THE MANAGEMENT of the Investec Australia Property Fund (IAPF), the Australia-domiciled fund listed on the JSE, believes the total portfolio value at about A$942 million (R10.4 billion) is at a scale where it could consider a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Graeme Katz, the chief executive of the IAPF, said yesterday that listing on the ASX was a natural evolution for the fund as it looked to grow and access alternative sources of capital. “A listing on the ASX has the potential for the IAPF to re-rate and will put the fund in a unique position to access capital from two mature property markets,” he said. Katz said the fund, which comprised 25 properties, had grown 6.4 times since listing in October 2013 and had built a valuable platform of properties supported by strong underlying fundamentals that would be difficult to replicate given current direct asset pricing and the continuing flow of offshore capital. The IAPF yesterday reported a 3 percent growth in distributions a share to 4.95 cents pre-withholding tax for the six months to September, from 4.81c in the prior period. The occupancy rate of the portfolio improved to 98.4 percent from 94.6 percent in March this year. The fund maintained its full-year distribution growth guidance at between 3 percent and 4 percent pre-withholding tax.