MAS Real Estate (MSP)‚ the Europe-focused commercial property investor‚ developer and operator listed on the JSE and in Luxembourg‚ has reported strong results for the year to end-June 2016‚ marked by a 63% increase in rental income and a 34% increase in final distribution to 4.5 euro cents per share.
“We have made substantial progress during the financial year and the portfolio is coming of age‚ with substantial developments delivered on time and on budget. We have now begun to roll out our updated strategy for the group‚ which focuses on delivering a high quality and growing income distribution per share‚ including through expansion into the Central and Eastern European (CEE) regions‚” said CEO‚ Lukas Nakos.
MAS’s updated strategy includes expanding its target markets to include the growing economies of Central and Eastern Europe through a joint venture with the developers and investors at Prime Kapital.
MAS intends to invest 200m euros in the joint venture over the next four years as it rebalances its portfolio across Europe.
“We are very excited about the joint venture with Prime Kapital. The team brings exceptional development‚ investment and financing experience in CEE to the table. There are attractive opportunities in the region backed by a combination of relatively high initial acquisition yields‚ substantial growth prospects and attractive debt terms that will deliver strong returns on equity‚” said Nakos.
South African investors have bought into European property stocks such as MAS as they look to hedge against rand volatility and are attracted to euro-denominated returns. The CEE region is also attractive as it is growing off a low base with many Eastern European countries receiving listed real estate investment for the first time.
source: BDpro