Grand Parade reaps GrandWest benefits
CAPE TOWN Western Cape empowerment group Grand Parade Investments, which holds stakes in the GrandWest Casino in Goodwood and the Table Bay Hotel at the V&A Waterfront, declared a maiden dividend of 4c a share this week after a restructuring of its investments enabled its shareholders to benefit from the strong performance of GrandWest.
Grand Parade Investments announced shortly before financial yearend it had taken up additional shares in SunWest, the holding company of the GrandWest Casino and Table Bay Hotel, in which its co-shareholder is Sun International of SA.
The deal was accompanied by a restructuring of its debt to Sisa and it also renegotiated the terms of its loan from BoE Bank.
Grand Parade Investments initially assumed a substantial debt burden to acquire its investments and it had warned shareholders it would not be able to pay dividends until the debt was settled.
Grand Parade Investments' results announcement is delayed by having to obtain information from its subsidiary companies. On Monday it reported a 44% increase in group revenue to R29,9m for the year to June compared with the same period last year and a 36,7% increase in operating costs to R4,1m. Income for the year more than doubled to R8,5m (R3,3m).
Revenue reflects Grand Parade Investments' proportionate stakes in three subsidiary companies: 19,3% of SunWest (from 8,5% previously), 5,67% of the Western Cape Management Company and 19,3% of the National Management Company. Its dividend income from these investments amounted to R9,4m (R5,8m) of which R3,4m (R1,3m) was earned from the SunWest stake.
Dec 17 2003 07:12:58:000AM Charlotte Mathews Business Day 1st Edition
Publisher: Business Day
Source: Business Day