Mall owner Safari Investments posts worst results since coming to market

Safari Investments, the owner of malls in towns and semi-urban areas, has released its weakest results since listing five years ago as the default on a loan by BEE partner Southern Palace and tenant struggles caused it to slash its dividend by a quarter.

But CEO Dirk Engelbrecht said the company’s underlying portfolio of eight shopping centres would see a turnaround in the next financial year. This “highly disappointing” set of results need not spook the market as Safari was preparing to merge with Cape-based Fairvest, which also invested in shopping centres geared at the lower LSM market and commuters in SA’s secondary towns. ..