Pakistan’s first real estate investment trust will offer an initial 9 percent dividend and stakes in one of Karachi’s most prominent malls and office towers when it sells shares within three months. A 25 percent stake in the Dolmen City Real Estate Investment Trust will be offered to foreign and domestic investors, said Nasim Beg, chairman of Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Ltd. The trust’s assets will be the Dolmen Mall, which hosts stores including Mango and Debenhams, and the adjacent office building that houses Engro Corp. Both are near the Karachi seafront, one of Pakistan’s wealthiest areas. “The outlook of the real estate market is not too relevant,” Beg said yesterday in an interview in Karachi. “Investors will be paid dividends from rental income that will continue to grow as per agreements.” The trust is likely to pay a dividend of 9 percent in first year and increase to 14 percent in the fifth year, said Muhammad Ejaz, chief executive of Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management. The dividend yield of the benchmark KSE100 stock index is currently 4.4 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government is broadening investment options in Pakistan as it seeks to spur economic growth in the midst of an escalating conflict with domestic Islamist militants. The Pakistani Taliban killed 134 students on Dec. 16 in one of the country’s worst terrorist attacks. Beg said he expects four or five other REITs to be listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange within two years.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 07:20:20 +0000
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