Artist impression of Jabulani Junction, a Calgro M3 develomemt that offers upmarket two-bedroom sectional title homes in the CBD of Soweto.
Image: Supplied
Calgro M3 enters its 2027 year with a R31.8 billion development pipeline, the start of bulk and link infrastructure development at the massive Bankenveld District City (BDC) development in Gauteng, and a balance sheet positioned for the next phase of integrated housing growth.
This was according to CEO Ben Pierre Malherbe, who said at the release Monday of the housing development and operator of memorial park group’s 2026 results that a clear strategy was also developed, and the final dividend had been maintained at 8,637 cents per share.
The group’s strategy is now centred on three pillars: to drive long-term growth, strengthen liquidity, and enhance shareholder value, he said. Headline earnings per share fell 8.5% to 156,76 cents.
These would be attained by disposing of non-core assets, accelerating the completion of non-core projects while expanding the Memorial Park footprints, reducing debt, and developing a sustainable talent pipeline.
“These priorities informed performance and capital allocation decisions during the year, with sales and construction efforts directed towards the non-core project pipeline, comprising developments outside our large-scale integrated core portfolio.”
The focus on the non-core project pipeline resulted in a shift in revenue, with 70% of units transferred during the year from Scottdene, La Vie Nouvelle, South Hills Lifestyle Estate, Jabulani, and 32-on-Pine, predominantly within the mid-to-high end product range.
This approach supported the phased completion and closeout of non-core projects, enabling the release of financial, operational, and management capacity for redeployment into core developments, he said.
He said the combined pipeline remained robust, comprising some 31,874 residential opportunities and 114,827 burial opportunities.
The BDC project was intended to grow into the anchor project within the development business. Revenue from the segment increased marginally to R806 million from R800m, but gross profit margin slipped to 24% from 27%, reflecting the trade-out of legacy non-core projects.
Malherbe said the BDC project was expected to deliver at least 20,000 housing opportunities across a range of affordable housing types, located within walking distance of the Marlboro Gautrain Station, in close proximity to job opportunities in the Linbro Park industrial area, as well as Sandton and the Waterfall City Central Business District.
“The initial phase of infrastructure delivery, encompassing bulk and link and internal infrastructure, is expected to yield approximately 6,000 serviced opportunities over the next five years, to be rolled out in phases,” said Malherbe.
Revenue for the segment increased marginally to R806m, up from R800m, while the gross profit margin declined to 24% (27%), reflecting margin pressures experienced during the year while trading out non-core projects.
Bulk and link infrastructure continued to be installed within the Fleurhof, Belhar, and Jabulani housing developments, collectively supplying 968 serviced opportunities into the pipeline for development in the next financial year. New land parcels in the Western Cape would support geographic diversification.
During the year, the Rustenburg Memorial Park was launched, expanding the Memorial Parks Business’ footprint into the North West province.
“The new park delivered strong performance, with burial rates and sales volumes exceeding those of comparable parks at a similar stage of development,” Malherbe said.
Revenue for the segment increased 26.8% to R86m (R68m) through market share gains and completion of layby sales in the year.
“The business maintains a semi-fixed cost structure, and improvements in sales volumes positively impacted the gross profit margin of 54.9% (2025: 50.90%),” said Malherbe.
Layby cash receipts in the Memorial Parks segment grew by 19% to R30.42, underscoring the effectiveness of the strategy to reduce the barrier to entry. Layby sales increased by 63% to R45m, with the active layby book ending at R59.7m, a 29.7% increase year-on-year.
Debt was expected to rise in the short term to support development and infrastructure investment, but the long-term objective was to reduce debt through balance sheet optimisation and asset realisation.
Calgro M3’s share price gained 1.64% to R4,35 on the JSE Monday morning, although the price has fallen from R5.10 a year ago.
BUSINESS REPORT