Adam Ebrahim, CEO of the Oasis Group, which listed the sharia-compliant property fund Oasis Crescent Property Fund in 2005, said new developments, as well as expansion opportunities within the existing property portfolio, could potentially increase the size of the portfolio five-fold in the next three to five years.

In terms of its mandate to follow sharia principles, the fund’s properties exclude tenants whose main activities include the sale of liquor, gambling and entertainment.

Ebrahim said Oasis Crescent Property Fund’s market capitalisation was about R300m and that its property portfolio was of a similar size.

The fund’s unit price was trading at a 4% premium to net asset value.

Ebrahim said the fund had no borrowings, which would pos-ition it nicely to expand the portfolio. He said the fund also had access to about 200000m² of undeveloped zoned land.

The land was owned by an associate company to Oasis. “It is very significant because over the next three to five years that land will be developed,” said Ebrahim.

He said the land, which was mainly situated in Western Cape, was industrial zoned and situated around the Cape Town airport. About 15% of the land is zoned for retail development.

“Where we are at the moment, the development opportunities will generate at least 2% better yield than buying existing properties in the market place. We believe there are a number of high quality development opportunities with A-grade international tenants,” said Ebrahim.

He said Oasis Crescent Property Fund would also be looking at acquisitions of other physical properties. But these would be done on a selective basis and include properties that would add value to the portfolio in the long term. “We think the fund is well- positioned to benefit from new developments in the next five years.”

Ebrahim said the development pipeline and acquisition activity would be funded through the issue of new units and debt, depending on the acquisitions and developments. “We also have further development opportunities around our existing retail space to expand the retail space.”