Business

Owner of Centurion Mall and other popular South African shopping centres is making R7.8 million a day

Malcolm Libera

 ·2 Nov 2026

The owner of Centurion Mall and several other popular shopping centres in South Africa is making R7.8 million in rental income every day.

This is according to Redefine Properties’ 2026 annual financial report, which revealed that the company generated R2.85 billion in contractual rental income from its South African retail portfolio during the financial year ended 31 August 2026.

This works out to approximately R7.81 million per day, excluding additional income from operating cost recoveries.

Redefine owns a substantial portfolio of retail, office, industrial, and specialised properties in South Africa and Poland, with total property assets valued at R102.1 billion.

Retail is its largest South African property sector, comprising 52 shopping centres valued at R31.2 billion, with a combined gross lettable area of more than 1.17 million square metres.

The R2.85 billion in contractual rental income is generated through leases with thousands of tenants occupying these properties. Redefine explained that its rental income is recognised over the duration of these agreements.

“Contractual rental income (including leases from non-GLA income) from operating leases is recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term in accordance with IFRS 16: Leases,” the company said.

Redefine also recovers operating costs from tenants, including expenses associated with providing services and maintaining properties.

These recoveries generated another R1.39 billion during the 2026 financial year.

“Operating cost recoveries from lessees are accounted for as non-lease components in terms of IFRS 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” the company said. 

“Recoveries are levied monthly in arrears as a result of the group recovering the costs of providing the tenant with services as determined by the lease agreement.”

This brought total revenue from its South African retail operations to approximately R4.25 billion for the year.

The stability of these rental revenues is also supported by the profile of its tenants. Redefine classifies 82.3% of its local retail space, covering 916,147 square metres and 1,771 tenants, as Grade A.

The company’s definition includes national and government entities, long-standing tenants, and businesses with strong payment records.

Redefine Properties’ financial performance

Its report described qualifying tenants as those who have “never been handed over” for unpaid accounts and whose accounts have not been in arrears by more than one month’s billing for more than 60 days.

Some of the company’s largest shopping centres contribute substantially to its rental income.

Centurion Mall in Gauteng, with 113,165 square metres of lettable space, generates R30.7 million in gross monthly rental income.

Mall of the South generates R16.7 million, while Blue Route Mall in the Western Cape brings in R14.8 million.

Kenilworth Centre, also in the Western Cape, generates another R14 million in gross monthly rentals.

The rental performance comes as Redefine reported a significant improvement in its overall financial results.

Group profit increased from R4.17 billion in 2025 to R7.28 billion in 2026, while headline earnings per share nearly doubled, rising 98.6% to 72.97 cents.

The company also increased its annual dividend by 7% to 49.06 cents per share.

Its South African retail vacancy rate stood at just 5%, while the group’s overall South African REIT vacancy rate improved from 7.3% to 6.4%.

Redefine also reduced its loan-to-value ratio from 41.2% to 38.8%, strengthening its balance sheet and bringing it below its 40% target.