Spear Reit, the Western Cape-focused listed landlord, did not escape the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with the hard lockdown and negative rental reversions forcing it to slash its dividend payout for the first time since listing in 2016.

The company, which owns a property portfolio comprising of 32 assets worth R4.5bn and has a market capitalisation of R1.4bn, announced a final dividend per share for the year to end-February 2021 of 58.70c per share...