Laptrust property fund posts Sh99 million profit
Property fund Laptrust Imara I-Reit made a net profit of Sh99.6 million in the six months ended June, marking its first financial report since its listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Laptrust said it had made Sh167.1 million in rental income from its property portfolio which it valued at Sh6.8 billion in the review period, while utilities and interest income contributed Sh36.2 million to the fund’s revenues.
Rental income would give the Reit an annualized rental yield of about five percent.
Properties that are held under Imara include CPF Metro Park, CPF House, Pension Towers, Freedom Heights Mall and Service Plot, Man Apartment and Nova Eldoret.
The Reit is however not distributing any of the net earnings to unit holders (shareholders) on an interim basis, citing the ongoing transition following its listing in March.
“Due to the ongoing transition period, the Reit manager has not declared any interim dividend for the period ended 30th June 2023,” said Laptrust.
The Laptrust Reit is one of two listed on the NSE—the other being ILAM Fahari I-Reit—while property developer Acorn has issued development and investment Reits built on its student units.
The Acorn Reits are unlisted but trade on the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
Acorn’s D-Reit made a profit of Sh170.2 million in the half year to June, filings show, while its I-Reit netted Sh113.3 million.
The distributable income from the Acorn I-Reit rose to Sh92.8 million from Sh75.3 million, leading to an increase in interim dividend to Sh0.30 per unit (Sh87 million in total) from Sh0.27 last year (Sh64 million total).
ILAM’s Fahari I-Reit meanwhile reported a flat profit of Sh86 million in the six months to June, after higher rental income was offset by an increase in property and fund operating expenses.
Just like the Imara I-Reit, ILAM opted not to make an interim distribution in the period.
Reits rules require issuers to pay at least of 80 percent of distributable earnings within four months after the end of a financial year.
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