RMB Holdings: A closer look at asset value and shareholder returns

RMB Holdings (RMH), an investment company that derives most of its income from property, said on Friday that it remains committed to monetising its portfolio assets in a manner that maximises value for shareholders.

On Friday, the company announced it would pass the dividend for the six-month period ending March 31, 2025, compared with the 23.5 cents a share that was paid out at the same time a year before - the company does not declare regular dividends.

RMH’s management said its net asset value (NAV) remained relatively stable through the period however, decreasing slightly from R919 million as at September 30, 2024, to R916m as at March 31, 2025.

This marginal decline was driven by three offsetting factors: a 3.5% increase in the NAV of Atterbury Property Holdings (Atterbury), an additional expected loss of R27m on the Integer shareholders’ loan, and the yield on cash resources not being sufficient to fully cover operating expenses.

Since June 2020, RMH has returned R3.557 billion in cash to shareholders through special dividends as part of its monetisation efforts. RMH’s market capitalisation on June 24, 2020, was R2.4bn, demonstrating the effectiveness of its value realisation strategy.

As of March 31, RMH’s share price was 44 cents per share, reflecting a discount of 41% to its NAV of 65.8 cents per share (30 September 2024: 66 cents per share).

“Despite the widening of the discount to NAV, the combination of the cash distributions to shareholders and the current share price has yielded a total shareholders’ return of 71% (30 September 2024: 73%) since June 24, 2020,” the company’s management said on Friday.

“In relation to RMH Property and its investee companies, RMH will continue to serve as a supportive and enabling shareholder, guided by its monetisation strategy,” they added.

For the six-month period, revenue of R60m was reported, while profit came to R20m. The share price was unchanged at 44 cents on Friday afternoon.

On June 3, 2024, and September 2, 2024, RMH paid a special dividend of 3.5 and 3.75 cents per share, respectively.

Ninety-one percent of RMH’s portfolio mix is Atterbury-concentrated, while an investment in Integer Properties contains a mix of residential and industrial properties. Atterbury is invested in R4.1bn of commercial, retail, industrial, and residential properties across South Africa, the rest of Africa, and parts of Europe.

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