PrimeTime upbeat on new Lobatse mall

New retail centre to open its doors in Q4 2021

P116 million mall to breathe life into Lobatse

PrimeTime contractual rental income declined by 4%

BAKANG TIRO

editors@thepatriot.co.bw

Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed property firm, PrimeTime, says it is expecting to deliver on the new mega P116 million Lobatse Crossing retail centre in Q4 of 2021.

PrimeTime disclosed in its financial results for the 6 months period ended 28 February 2021 that with already 95% of space taken up; this project will be a great success for business.

“We are still holding a land bank which will crystallise into a major extension to our Boiteko Mall in Serowe, Phase II of Prime Plaza in the Gaborone CBD and additional office space at the Pinnacle Park in Setlhoa, once the funding model has been secured,” said the optimistic BSE listed entity.

According to the property rich company, as these projects are already backed by strong tenant demand and the commercial fundamentals, they are on its immediate radar to bring to fruition.

PrimeTime indicated in February last year prior to commencing the mall project that it had secured prospective tenants such as Spar, Botswana Life, BBS, Ackermans, PEP and Jet.

The major shareholders of PrimeTime include Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF), which through its fund managers is the largest shareholder with 31.72 percent stake.

PrimeTime Managing Director (MD) Sandy Kelly’s owned Linwood Services Limited owns 16.36 percent, Tati Limited Company owns 9.35 percent and Debswana Pension Fund (DPF) 7.99 percent.

The company believes that the new retail centre will give facelift to Lobatse as the current retail provisions are concentrated on a few small malls stand-alone units and traditional high street retail.

Meanwhile, for the six months ended 28 February 2021 PrimeTime recorded slight decline of 4% on contractual rental income.

“While we cannot pretend that trading conditions are not still challenging, we are seeing positive signs on the ground such as increased occupancy, good tenant retention and strong demand for our new developments. Cost cutting measures are also bearing fruit and our mix of fixed and variable interest rates has allowed the group to benefit from cuts in interest rates over last 12 months,” said company.

The group vacancy rate has normalised off the 5% recorded at the end of the last financial year to below 3% at this period end owing to drop in Zambian properties vacancies from 11.5% to 3.5%.