South Africa’s Vukile expands aggressively in Europe, signals more growth.
The cost-to-income ratio reduced to 15%, with ongoing progress in solar and water initiatives enhancing sustainability metrics and efficiencies.
South Africa’s well-known specialist retail real estate investment trust, Vukile Property Fund delivered a strong pre-close trading update for its financial year ended 31 March 2025, underscoring its dealmaking dexterity, strategic expansion and robust operational delivery.
Vukile confirmed it is on track to meet its full-year guidance of 2% to 4% growth in funds from operations (FFO) per share and 6% growth in dividends per share (DPS).
Reflecting strong business momentum and high-quality earnings, Vukile also provided preliminary guidance on FFO and dividend per share growth for FY26 of at least 6%, based on conservative assumptions and without anticipating any need for new equity capital.
The transformative year has been underpinned by strategic execution. Driven by disciplined dealmaking and decisive capital deployment, Vukile’s gross asset value now exceeds R50bn.
Through its 99.5%-held Spanish subsidiary Castellana Properties, Vukile grew its asset base in Spain and Portugal by nearly 60%. It exited its investment in Lar España at an impressive profit of €82m, swiftly redeploying capital to acquire the iconic Bonaire Shopping Centre in Spain’s Valencia province at a compelling cash-on-cash return of over 8%, avoiding cash drag and securing sustainable earnings from a top-quality asset.
Adding a new engine of growth to its strategy, Vukile entered Portugal with four high-quality retail acquisitions. A fifth deal is well advanced and already fully funded.
All-in-all, the Iberian portfolio grew around 60% over the 12 months, cementing Vukile’s dominant position across two of Europe’s strongest economies − Spain and Portugal. Approximately two-thirds of Vukile’s assets and 60% of earnings are now offshore.
Source: Zawya
