Property group Resilient Property Income Fund (RES) increased its dividend for the year ended June by 20.94%.

The board has declared a dividend of 168‚35c for the six months ended June 2014. This‚ combined with the 159.59c in respect of the interim period‚ represents an increase of 20.94% compared with the year-earlier period.

Despite the subdued growth in the South African economy and the group's exposure to areas negatively affected by the protracted strike in the platinum sector‚ the property portfolio performed ahead of budget.

Resilient again benefited from the strong performance of its listed holdings‚ particularly the offshore holdings where dividends benefited from the depreciation of the rand.

National retail sales have held up surprisingly well under the current challenging economic environment. Distributions were forecast to increase by about 12% for the 2015 financial year‚ Resilient said.