Texton to slash dividend up to a quarter
Texton Property Fund warned on Friday its dividend may fall as much as a quarter for the year to end-June, as Brexit and SA’s weak economy continued to weigh on its performance.
Texton anticipates it dividend per share to fall 18.49%-26.21%, to 65.90c-72.8c, for the period, it said after markets closed on Friday.
“The dividend per share has decreased due to lower net property income as a result of significant rental reversions, continuing vacancies at a number of properties, slower than budgeted take-up of vacant space, increased net finance costs and lower realised foreign exchange gains,” the group said.
SA’s market was characterised by no demand and general oversupply of space, the group said, as a difficult economic climate has led to more companies contracting, consolidating space or closing.
In the UK, Brexit continues to provide uncertainty, with the country’s economic outlook also under pressure.
“Inflation forecasts have been revised upwards. The uncertainty of Brexit is likely to further devalue the pound and drive inflation through higher import costs,” the group said.
Texton has underperformed so far in 2019, falling 35.28% compared with a 2.85% loss for the JSE property index.
The company has also experienced many management shake-ups, with CEO Nosiphiwo Balfour resigning in September 2018, making her the fourth CEO to leave the company in three years
Source: businesslive.co.za