Fortress’ strong portfolio quality assessment continues to benefit from its scale and bias towards high quality logistics and retail assets in a portfolio that is well diversified by asset, tenant and geography. The value of direct property holdings remained at c.R28bn at FY21, with only limited further fair value write-downs, and offset by gains on new developments and acquisitions. There was, however, a small increase in the value of the total investment portfolio to c.R44bn due to an uptick in the Nepi Rockcastle Plc (“NR”) share price. Fortress’ growth strategy remains centred on ongoing asset recycling to expand its portfolio towards the more defensive logistics sector, both locally and offshore.
Fortress’ liquidity assessment is underpinned by at least 1.5x coverage of 12-months’ requirements. This is supported by the REIT’s measured approach to its development rollout, ample committed facility headroom of R2.2bn, and relatively low short-term debt expiries. The Stable Outlook reflects GCR’s expectations that Fortress will report renewed organic income growth from development activity, whilst maintaining debt around the current levels.
GCR believes that the Government of South Africa (GoSA) continues to show a strong willingness to support State Owned Entities (SOEs) in most insta...
GCR expects corporate debt issuance in Nigeria to remain robust throughout 2021. Debt capital market activity in Nigeria has increased significantl...