NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – Student hostel developer Acorn has more than doubled the dividend to be paid to investors to Sh480 million in the full year ending December last year.
The payout, which grew from Sh192 million during a similar period in 2022, expanded despite a profit decline to Sh765 million, attributed to increased interest rates and high construction costs.
Whereas Acorn Student Accommodation Development REIT (ASA D-REIT) paid out its first dividend of Sh0.91, Acorn Student Accommodation Income REIT (ASA I-REIT) declared a final payment of Sh0.47 per unit.
According to Mathew Maina, acting executive director of Acorn Investment Management Limited, the firm remains committed to delivering profit and dividends to investors.
“Despite a tough operating environment, the profitability of the ASA REITs indicates the robustness of our business model,” Maina said.
“Over the next two years, we will be working on several initiatives to continue to deliver profit and dividends to our investors whilst growing the value of their capital,” he added.
“The ASA REITs continue to acquire sites in excellent locations and develop high quality operating assets in a sector with significant and sustained demand evidenced by the growth of the average occupancy of stabilized assets from 83% in 2022 to 88% in 2023.”
With a combined portfolio of 17,000 beds and total assets under management of Sh20.7 billion, the developer is now the largest purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) provider in Africa.
This comes after ASA I-REIT acquired the Qwetu Hurlingham property, increasing its total assets under management to Sh9.2 billion.
Likewise, ASA D-REIT bought a property in Nairobi CBD, expanding its portfolio to 2,400 beds and total assets under management to Sh11.5 billion.
