On the back of a tumultuous year that included the July 2021 riots and the long-term impact of the global pandemic on the local economy, Exemplar declared an interim dividend of 45.34 cents per share – an increase of 26.08% on the corresponding period.

Rental and recovery income for the corresponding period has grown by 25.83%.  On a like-for-like basis, contractual basic rental income increased by 5.79%, with expected tenant retention in excess of 80% for the full year. A positive escalation rate of 1.75% has thus far been achieved on renewals concluded in the period.

Exemplar is a market leading developer, owner and manager of township and rural retail space across five provinces in South Africa. The fund internally manages in excess of 450 000sqm of GLA and is currently developing a further 27 000sqm retail in the Eastern Cape.

Exemplar’s interim results are all the more impressive when viewed against the backdrop of the unrest in July that affected a quarter of the GLA within the group’s portfolio. 5 of Exemplar’s 23 assets, including 334 stores totalling 110 000sqm GLA were damaged or destroyed.

At the time of writing, a total of 53 817sqm GLA has been rebuilt and handed back to tenants with 100% of tenants at 4 of these malls expected to be trading by December again. 

“24.4% of our total GLA was impacted by the riots,” explains CEO of Exemplar, Jason McCormick. “Despite this we have seen a phenomenal growth of over 26% in our distribution against the same period last year. This is indicative of the immense strength and relevance of the Exemplar portfolio as well as a testament to our incredible people who toiled relentlessly to get our damaged assets operational again.  It is on the back of these results that we reaffirm our commitment to providing convenient retail opportunities to the most under-serviced areas and communities of South Africa.”

The period under review also saw an addition to the Exemplar board with the appointment of Ms. Nonyameko Mandindi (‘Nyami’) as an independent non-executive director in July.