SPEARHEAD Property's linked unit price has gone up almost 50% in the past year and management is confident the property loan stock company's headline and distributable earnings for the year ending June 30 will be materially higher than the R13 a unit expected by analysts.

Spearhead CEO Mike Flax said 40% of the company's borrowings totalling R100m had previously been locked in a 15% fixed rate contract, which expired in February. He said the debt was refinanced at 1,7% cheaper, which had a positive effect on profit.

Flax said the buoyant Cape Town market, where the company is based, had also enabled it to exact higher rentals and some trading profit.

Spearhead's linked unit price went up 5,5% in the last two days, with the price closing at R12,30 yesterday after the company announced it expected to report "significantly higher earnings" this financial year. A year ago, the linked units were trading at about R8.

Flax said the company would be releasing its financial results for the year ending June 30 at the end of August.

Although he expected the company's headline and distributable earnings to be higher than the R13 a unit expected by analysts, he said the figures still needed to be finalised by the auditors.

In its property unit trust and property loan stock research report for the second quarter, listed property asset management company Provest said that Spearhead's interim results reflected a growth in distributions of 4,76% comparable to the same period the previous year.