Emira Property Fund H1 dividend up 8.8% to 70.34c vs 64.65c

Emira Property Fund (EMI) declared a dividend of 70.34c per share for the six months to December 31 2015‚ up 8.8% from 64.65c in the year-earlier period‚ the fund said on Wednesday.

The net asset value per share increased by 2.9% from R17.51 at June 30 2015 to R18.01 per share at December 31 2015‚ after the revaluation of investment properties and the acquisition and development of further properties‚ the fund said.

Vacancies had decreased from 5.1% at December 2013 to 4.9% at December 2014 and 4.7% at December 2015‚ the fund said.

Looking ahead‚ while market conditions were expected to be more trying in the next six months‚ Emira was “appropriately positioned” to continue its past performance and deliver a similar distribution growth per share for the full-year period to June 30 2016.

At 1.19pm‚ the counter had lifted 0.06% to R16.01 from a close of R16 previously.