The listing will facilitate the provision of capital for further growth opportunities in this high growth market.

R65 million will be raised in a private placing: 30 million new ordinary shares will be offered for subscription by the company and 35 million shares will be offered for sale by existing shareholders to add to the liquidity of the shares on the JSE.

RBA Housing’s CEO David Wentzel said: “We are excited about listing on AltX and confident that the capital proceeds from the listing will enable us to increase our capacity to not only supply housing to our key target market, but also keep them affordable.”

The listing will also enable RBA to:

• Procure additional land for development
• Pursue potential acquisition opportunities
• Provide working capital

RBA, founded in 1997 is one of the leading suppliers of fully bonded quality affordable homes.  These homes are differentiated from low cost housing in terms of size, cost and funding.  RBA homes are typically 40 to 80 square meters and cost R250 000 to R700 000.  They have 2 or 3 bedrooms, 1or 2 bathrooms, a lounge, kitchen, stove and carpets or tiles, with various options on the fittings.  RBA facilitates full electrical and plumbing reticulation and registration with NHBRC.  This is truly a turnkey service.

“With 10 years experience in the market, RBA has created its own class of housing.  Our homes are an investment to our buyers, not just a roof over their heads” says Wentzel

RBA Developments, a subsidiary of RBA Holdings, also manages land procurement, legal, administration, project management and construction of all the group’s operations.

There is currently a national shortage of about 650 000 homes in the affordable housing bracket.  To date RBA has built more than 5000 homes with another 600 currently under construction in their 20 project areas. RBA has a current capacity to deliver 1200 houses per annum which is the expected output for 2008.  The goal is to extend this capacity to 2000 per annum.
 
 “Estimates from the Banking Association of SA indicate that there is a need to build 132 000 affordable houses a year, which the banks are prepared to finance, to meet their Financial Services Charter commitment. RBA Housing can only grow from strength to strength due to the high demand for our houses”, Wentzel added

RBA’s 2006 revenue was R176m with profit attributable to ordinary shareholders at R19m.  Forecast revenues for 2007 are R235m and R306m for 2008. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders is forecast at R35m and R46m in 2007 and 2008 respectively.  RBA has a PE of around 8.7 based on the 2007 numbers.