LLR continues to dominate industrial property sector

• Remains largest single entity owner of industrial properties
• Industrial property segment contributes 73.0% to Group revenue
• LLR’s industrial property portfolio valued at P716.8m

In its recently released annual report for 2022, the property development and management company says the industrial portfolio has proven to be resilient over the past 12 months, being able to experience growth in terms of rentals and escalations while vacancies have been low. According to LLR, the vacancy rate for the sector at the end of June 2022 was insignificant at 0.3 percent compared to 1 percent in the prior year.

The report says the company is seeing demand for additional space from existing tenants, especially from agricultural products and animal feeds as well as the diamond cutting and polishing companies, which are setting up in Botswana. “LLR’s industrial properties offer an environment which contributes significantly toward employment creation, with our industrial portfolio companies employing over 8 500 people from a property perspective,” the company says.

In terms of performance, the sector outperformed other property sectors and performed strongly against a challenging economic environment. “The segment held its value, did not experience any significant downward rental reversions, and the demand for space remains strong,” the company says in the report. In 2022, total revenue for the segment was P78.6 million, increasing from P73.5 million recorded in the 2021 financial year.

The value of the portfolio in 2022 was P716.8 million from P677.1 million in the previous year, with the segment contributing 73.0 percent to Group revenue, a growth of 2.0 percent from 71.0 percent in 2021. “The industrial sector contributed 87 percent to profit before tax (PBT) in financial year 2022 and showed fair value gains of P23.1 million,” says the report. “The vacancies in this sector decreased from 1 percent to 0.3 percent.”