Attacq sees green shoots
Attacq, which owns 80% of Mall of Africa, says it is seeing signs of improvement in the real estate sector. Rental relief in the form of discounts and deferrals to assist struggling tenants, mostly restaurants, gyms and entertainment clients, dropped to R79.92m, from R113.85m.
Attacq, which owns 80% of Mall of Africa, the biggest mall built in one phase in SA to date, says it is seeing signs of improvement in the real estate sector, which was badly battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rental relief in the form of discounts and deferrals to assist struggling tenants, mostly restaurants, gyms and entertainment clients, dropped to R79.92m, from R113.85m. The overall portfolio occupancy rate improved to 95.2% from 93.6%.
Retail trading densities, or sales per square metre, were little changed at R3,012/m2 on average in the year to end-June, despite the negative effect of lockdown restrictions, particularly those on alcohol sales, limited entertainment capacity and curfews.
Attacq, which listed on the JSE in 2013, said its malls are being transformed into experiential community spaces to respond to changing consumer shopping patterns, which was fostered by the pandemic.
“The pandemic has seen a seismic shift in the need for connectedness in safe spaces, and Attacq has responded by creating retail-experience hubs. Here, we provide an optimised client mix — a space where people connect and benefit from ondemand services, collection points and loyalty rewards,” CEO Jackie van Niekerk said.
Attacq launched a new app that could help it identify customer shopping habits and lure them back with special offers, parking perks and loyalist points. The app is being rolled out at Mall of Africa, the flagship mall at Waterfall City, a development that offers offices and residential units primarily to highend consumers.
“The interesting thing is that in the 12 years to date, Waterfall has attracted investments of between R50bn and R60bn into the node; that is between ourselves and other master developers, and it continues to grow,” Attacq chief development officer Giles Pendleton said in a results presentation.
He said at any one time 700 to 1,000 residential units were under construction at Waterfall, resulting in the continual increase of high-density nodes within the development.
This process would set the tone for other developments in the area, Pendleton said.
High-density nodes include flats, town houses, clusters and other complexes that allow for communal living.
Distributable income fell by a third to 46.8c per share, after MAS Real Estate declared no dividend during the review period. However, the distributable income from SA operations rose 22.5%, boosted in part by rental income earned from newly completed developments and lower rental discounts.
Rental income was steady at R2.2bn, but net rental income dropped 0.5% on a like-forlike basis.