RMB Holdings (RMH) has declared a dividend of 30.75 cents per share for the 12 months to September 30 as it continues with its strategy of monetising its assets to the benefit of its shareholders.
The group, a holding company that has as its objective of monetising its last significant investment in RMH Property, said on Friday that it paid special dividends of R48 million and R52m on June 3 and September 2, 2024, respectively. The company does not pay out ordinary dividends.
RMH’s net asset value fell to R919m as at September 30, down from R1.45 billion a year ago. This decline was primarily driven by the payment of total special dividends amounting to R428m during the period.
Also part of the decline in net asset value was a R77m decline in the carrying value of property company Atterbury and a R37m loss incurred on the repurchase of shares by Divercity Urban Property Group.
Since June 2020, RMH has returned R3.56bn in cash to shareholders through special dividends as part of its monetisation efforts. Notably, the market capitalisation on June 24, 2020, was R2.4bn, demonstrating the effectiveness of its value realisation strategy.
As of September 30, RMH’s share price was 41 cents a share (September 30, 2023: 49 cents), reflecting a discount of 38% to its net asset value (NAV) of 66 cents per share (104 cents per share).
“This discount, while narrowing from 53% in 2023, remains above the average discount of 20% for South African listed property companies, as reported by Anchor Capital in its fourth 2024 strategy and allocation report,” the company’s directors said.
“Despite this, the combination of the cash distributions to shareholders and the current share price had yielded shareholders a return of 73% since 24 June 2020.”
RMH said it remained committed to monetising its remaining portfolio assets. As at September 30, the group had available liquidity of R106m (R239m), comprising unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and listed unit trusts. RMH remained committed to keeping its expense base between R20m and R25m per annum.
Among its investments are investments in Integer Properties. Integer was formed in 2010 to fund property developers who have secured attractive development opportunities but lack the equity to bridge the gap between the level of senior institutional debt and the development cost.
RMH’s share of the unadjusted Atterbury net asset value was R753m. This amount was reduced by R59m to account for the dividend paid after June 30, 2024, following the disposal of the 20% undivided share in Mall of Africa.
As at June 30, 2024, Atterbury’s NAV increased by R142m to R1.96bn. RMH Holdings has a 38.5% stake in Atterury Property Group. The share price closed unchanged at 42 cents on Friday.
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