VUKILE TAKES COVID-19 HIT OF 66% ON ITS EARNINGS

VUKILE Property Fund, a special retail real estate investment trust (Reit), yesterday reported a 66.27 percent decline in earnings for the six months to the end of September, hurt by Covid-19 rent concessions granted to tenants both in southern Africa and in Spain. Its headline earnings per share (Heps) declined to 27.99 cents a share, down from 82.99c compared with last year. The group said the Covid-19 crisis had a negative impact on the global property market and on retail real estate companies in particular .Vukile granted rental relief to tenants of R133 million in southern Africa and e15m (R256.38m) to tenants in Spain during the period. Chief executive Laurence Rapp said despite providing extensive tenant relief in South Africa and Spain, Vukile’s domestic portfolio and its Spanish portfolio delivered sustained operational performances in tough trading environments. “We are comfortable with both portfolios’ trading metrics, which show solid asset performance locally and in Spain during the most extreme months of the coronavirus crisis in both countries. We are cautiously confident that we have navigated through the worst of the crisis. Should this be the case, Vukile’s portfolio and tenants have weathered the storm much better than expected, with a solid platform for recovery,” Rapp said. Looking ahead, the group said current forecasts anticipate a strong rebound in 2021.