Good news for owner of South Africa’s largest shopping mall
Accelerate Property Fund has successfully turned a positive financial performance following a turbulent period for the REIT and its largest asset, Fourways Mall.
Accelerate recorded a massive R1.27 billion loss for the year ended 31 March 2025, which was double that in 2024.
This came amid muted performance at Fourways Mall, the nation’s largest mall, which struggled with high vacancy rates.
However, a turnaround plan led by Flanagan & Gerard as asset managers and Moolman Group as the property managers has started to bear fruit for the mall.
The new managers successfully reduced vacancies, improved traffic flow and signage, and turned the mall into a successful events space.
A new R100 million luxury lifestyle development called The View will also be added to the mall, which will feature The Pantry, Tashas, Clay Cafe and more.
Construction has started on The View, a new luxury lifestyle development coming to Fourways Mall, the nation’s largest shopping centre.
With the improvements at the mall and a restructuring of its portfolio, Accelerate expects a stronger performance for the year ending 31 March 2026.
The group used distribution per share as its key performance metric for the trading statement for the period, which is common for REITs.
The group did not declare a distribution for the year ended 31 March 2025 due to working capital cash flow forecast, expected working capital requirements and capital expenditure requirements.
In FY2026, distributable earnings will be between R40.1 million and R47.3 million, or between R1.96 and R2.31 per share.
This is an improvement from the loss for FY2025 of R71.3 million, or a loss of R3.97 on a per share basis.
The group said that the increase in distributable earnings reflects the restructuring initiatives implemented and currently in progress, as well as an insurance settlement payment.
Major changes to its portfolio
Outside Fourways Mall, the group has also embarked on a major sale process as it seeks to cut its debt.
This includes the Buzz Shopping Centre and Waterford Centre in Fourways for a combined R65 million, as well as Bosveld Mall in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, for R88 million.
It also sold its 50% stake in Portside Tower, the tallest building in Cape Town, which houses FNB’s city operations, for R580 million.
In its latest trading statement, the group also announced that it had sold the BMW Fourways motor dealership in Fourways for R174 million, exclusive of VAT, to CFAO Mobility Properties.
The group said that the sale of the BMW Fourways location forms part of its ongoing strategic repositioning and restructuring programme. Accelerate also intends to use the proceeds to reduce debt.
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