Listed property profit forecasts hit lowest levels in more than a decade
Some real estate companies forecast payouts will fall again in 2019 in the worst economy since 2008
Listed property companies have given the weakest dividend forecasts in more than a decade as they struggle to grow rentals and fill vacancies amid weak business and consumer confidence. The listed real estate sector’s strong 10-year run, which was driven by growth in dividends, has ended. Property funds that released financial results in the recently completed reporting season have barely grown their dividends, and they are not expecting much better in the 2019 financial year, with some forecasting that their payouts will fall again. Despite this, a consensus of fund managers still expects the listed real estate sector as measured by the FTSE/JSE SA listed property sector (Sapy) to achieve a total return including capital and dividend growth of 8%-10% in 2019, after registering minus 25.26% in 2018. The Sapy had returned a total 17.15% in 2017, 10.20% in 2016, 7.99% in 2015 and 26.64% in 2014. In 2009, it returned as much as 14.07%, a strong comeback from 2008 when the global recess...
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