South Africa’s listed property sector rallied 1.4% last week, after declining significantly in the last two weeks of October 2012. Much of the selling pressure was attributed to a single large foreign investor and last week’s price action suggests this has come to an end.
Redefine (JSE:RDF) surged more than 6%, while Rebosis (+4%) and Resilient (+3%) also staged significant rallies last week.
Redefine is currently battling Growthpoint (JSE:GRT) for control of Fountainhead’s property portfolio. The eventual outcome is likely to be complicated by the fact that Fountainhead is a collective investment scheme in property with an external management company (owned by Redefine) that is under the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Board.
During the week, Rebosis (JSE:REB) announced the resignation of Mike Rodel as a director and chief operating officer of the company. At the same time, the company announced a number of new appointments to strengthen the asset management team, including the appointment of Gary Fourie as the new chief investment officer.
The weakness seen in the sector since the end of August 2012, together with an increase in the income base, has pushed the average forward yield above 7% again. In the current low interest rate environment, this is an extremely attractive initial yield.
With distribution growth of between 6% and 9% per annum over the next three to five years, the listed property sector should be able to deliver inflation-beating returns.
*Ian Anderson, chief investment officer at Grindrod Asset Management