South Africa's Attacq posts 27.3% rise in distributable income

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South African commercial property group Attacq said on Tuesday its half-year distributable income rose by 27.3%, due to higher rental income, settlement of Cell C arrears and lower finance costs.

The company said distributable income per share, the primary measure of underlying financial performance in the listed property sector, rose to 35.9 cents in the six months ended Dec.31, from 28.2 cents a year earlier.

Rental income for the group increased by 4% to 1.2 billion rand ($65.77 million), mainly due to a rise in rental income from its super-regional Mall of Africa. Like-for-like rental income increased by 7.2%.

Turnovers and footcount for all its retail hubs continued to grow, with food services and apparel categories, which were the hardest hit during pandemic lockdowns, growing turnover by double digits, Attacq said.

Despite rolling power blackouts, which have dampened demand for some retailers, the increased footcount positively impacted trading densities, with the weighted average annual trading density- sales per square metre- for the total portfolio increasing by 14.7%.

($1 = 18.2425 rand)

($1 = 18.2462 rand)

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Kim Coghill)