Putprop mulls JSE decision
Putprop is considering delisting the company from the JSE.
|||Johannesburg - Putprop is considering delisting the company from the JSE.
The company, the separately listed former property investment company of delisted bus transport operator Putco, said on Friday it was envisaging the delisting would be implemented through the repurchase and cancellation of Putprop shares, excluding the shares held by Carleo Enterprises, the company’s largest shareholder.
It said an independent committee of the board of the company had been appointed to consider any offer made by the company to its shareholders and further details about the delisting would be announced in due course. It advised shareholders to exercise caution when dealing in their Putprop shares until a further detailed announcement was made.
The planned delisting came as a surprise, because Putprop did not mention it on Wednesday when it published its financial results for the year to June and the company raised R100 million from shareholders through a rights offer in February.
Putprop’s property portfolio in June comprised 16 properties located primarily in Johannesburg and Pretoria valued at R439.4m.
The company said in a trading update published last month that it had received formal notification from Larimar, the major contributor of the group’s contractual rental income, that it would not be renewing the leases on four of Putprop’s properties.
Putprop said this meant it would lose about 35 percent of its rental income “going forward” from January, but it was fortunate to have large cash reserves available to pursue suitable rental producing properties to counter this effect.
Commenting on the company’s prospects in the annual financial statement, acting chairman Johann van Zyl said Putprop’s strategy was to enhance the property portfolio by investing in suitable industrial, retail and commercial properties to improve the company’s income streams.
“To this end, the group will continue to actively pursue the acquisition of additional investments,” he said.
Cash resources
Van Zyl said the group had substantial cash resources of R106.6m as a result of the rights offer to shareholders concluded in February.
This together with the board’s recent decision to make use of limited gearing, would allow the group to consider property acquisitions of a more substantial nature and achieve one of the group’s main strategies of diversifying its rental stream base from one major tenant.
The group would also strive to establish and build sustainable partnerships and joint ventures with organisations of a similar philosophy.
Van Zyl confirmed that the group continued to be in discussions with several parties to investigate the possibility of developing certain of its geographically well-positioned properties into large retail outlets or residential areas “with a view to unlocking greater value for shareholders”.
Shares in Putprop closed on Friday 1.32 percent lower at R5.23.
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