Despite a challenging trading environment, PrimeTime has demonstrated resilience, achieving a seven percent increase in revenue to P227.0 million from P212.8 million.
The company also reported an impressive overall portfolio occupancy rate of 99.3 percent, up from 97.5 percent in the previous financial year, highlighting its commitment to maintaining a high-quality asset portfolio and a well-diversified tenant mix.
Although revenue increased, operating expenses rose by 19 percent to P97.4 million, primarily due to higher property and maintenance costs, inflationary pressures, increased portfolio management fees, and non-recurring expenditures such as legal and consultancy fees related to corporate actions.
Additionally, the Group faced rising costs from load shedding in Zambia, which led to a significant increase in unrecoverable service charges, amounting to P1.9 million in unrecovered expenses for the year.
Despite improvements across most key metrics, profit from operations and earnings per linked unit were negatively affected by lower fair value adjustments in the Zambian and South African portfolios, mainly due to exchange rate fluctuations and subdued market conditions.
As a result, profit before taxation declined by 40 percent to P62.3 million from P104.4 million in the prior financial year, while earnings per linked unit on a basic and diluted basis contracted to 17.28 thebe, largely due to lower fair value gains on property and higher operating expenses.
“In Zambia, operational improvements are ongoing; however, funding and business costs, compounded by an electricity crisis and a doubling of interest rates over the past three years, have tempered short-term performance. Tighter financial conditions necessitated increased provisioning to mitigate credit risk, while fair value gains in the Botswana portfolio were partially offset by valuation declines in Zambia and, to a lesser extent, in South Africa. Despite these challenges, the Group remains focused on long-term growth by strengthening the balance sheet and maintaining consistent cash flows,” said Managing Director Sandy Kelly.
Despite the decline in profit before taxation, PrimeTime made significant progress in key strategic areas, including debt reduction, tenant retention, and sustainable development.
During the year under review, the Group reduced its overall borrowings, which include long-term debt and bank overdraft facilities, from P931.7 million in the prior year to P905.4 million.
This reduction was made possible by a P70.0 million debt amortization from Funds from Operations and a successful P20.1 million capital raise, which allowed for an immediate reduction in the Botswana overdraft balance.
Furthermore, PrimeTime successfully retained all major tenants, resulting in an occupancy rate of 99.3 percent, up from 97.5 percent.
This reflects the quality of the Group’s assets and underscores the strategic importance of tenant diversification and maintaining strong landlord-tenant relationships.
“Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, PrimeTime has demonstrated resilience and continues to make significant progress in executing our strategic priorities. While we acknowledge the external challenges, particularly in Zambia and South Africa, our unwavering focus on operational excellence, financial prudence, and balance sheet strengthening positions us well to deliver stakeholder value in the years ahead. We delivered a solid set of results by focusing on key deliverables within our control, such as improving revenue, tenant retention, and filling vacancies, as well as amortizing debt,” said Kelly.
PrimeTime, a Botswana Stock Exchange-listed diversified property group, has interests in office, retail, and industrial properties across Botswana and Zambia, with a recent expansion into South Africa.
The Botswana portfolio accounts for 65 percent of its investment properties, while Zambia and South Africa represent 30 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
Since its listing in 2007, when the portfolio was valued at P236 million, it has grown to P1.9 billion, comprising 22 completed properties in Botswana, six in Zambia, and two in South Africa.
