Tradehold has materially grown its operations in the six months to August 2014, said chairman Dr Christo Wiese when he announced the company’s results. Not only had revenue grown by 73.5% to £10.1m, but Tradehold had also significantly diversified its investment strategy. Whereas it had previously focused exclusively on the UK, it had since created a new subsidiary focused on property development in Africa. This company, Tradehold Africa, recently launched its first major development project in Mozambique.

Trading profit for the six months grew 117.5% from £2.9m to £6.3m. A fair-value loss of £1.0m on a non-core investment in Swiss banking group UBS AG (as against a fair-value gain of £1.3m on the same investment in the corresponding period) resulted in an operating profit of £5.3m. This was nevertheless 26.4% higher than the £4.2m of the corresponding period.

Moorgarth, which is by far Tradehold’s biggest investment in the UK, reported strong growth, with operating profit 212%% higher at £4.6m. In the past 12 months the value of its property portfolio had increased 78% from £51.5m to £91.9m. Its acquisition policy is focused on major shopping centres and Central London office accommodation, where rentals are growing strongly. In the six months to August it acquired its first three, now fully-let, office buildings in Central London for £18m.

Financial services, the second leg of Tradehold’s business, consists of a 63% interest in asset-backed, short-term lender Reward in the UK, and wholly-owned Mettle, a South African financial services company acquired during the reporting period. Reward produced an operating profit of £1.6m on a turnover of £2.4m while Mettle contributed £0.4m for the period.

In line with its decision to expand its property interests into Africa, Tradehold has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Collins property group of KwaZulu-Natal to acquire the bulk of its property holdings outside South Africa. About 50% of the portfolio is in the UK and the rest in African countries such as Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique.

Friedrich Esterhuyse, joint CEO of Tradehold, said that Tradehold Africa had already identified a number of opportunities to either acquire or develop properties in various African countries. “These initiatives have the potential to deliver attractive US dollar-denominated yields for the group.”

He added that Tradehold would continue on the growth path the company had embarked on during the first six months. “As we look to successfully conclude the transaction with Collins Group, we will be in a position to start capitalising on the great potential of property development on the African continent. However, this will not detract from our focus on the growth and development of our existing property portfolio in the UK.