FORTRESS REIT LIMITED

(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Registration number 2009/016487/06)

JSE share codes:

FFA

ISIN: ZAE000248498

FFB

ISIN: ZAE000248506

Bond company code:

FORI

(Approved as a REIT by the JSE) ("Fortress" or "the company")

TRADING UPDATE

UPDATED DIVIDEND POLICY

Fortress' condensed unaudited consolidated interim financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2019 will be released today, 5 March 2020 ("interim results").

During the past six months, the macroeconomic conditions in South Africa continued to deteriorate on the back of the latest round of load shedding, the lack of confidence in the South African economy as well as fiscal risks to government finances evidenced by National Treasury's prediction that debt to gross domestic product will reach 70% within three to four years. Business confidence, as measured by the RMB/BER Business Confidence Index is at 20-year lows.

The nature of the company's business has also changed to focus more on development activities which differentiates us, but also necessitates a strong and liquid balance sheet with which to fund the development pipeline.

Given the aforementioned factors, the board of directors ("the board") deems it appropriate, at this time, to adopt a more conservative approach to the dividend policy, going forward.

Accordingly, future dividends declared will exclude capitalised interest on Fortress' strategic land holdings.

The board believes that this revised dividend policy is a prudent approach in the current environment and will add value over the longer term. The revised dividend policy will be addressed in more detail in the company's interim results.

DIVIDENDS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019

Shareholders are advised that the Fortress A ordinary share ("FFA") dividend for the six months ended 31 December 2019 will be 77,67 cents per share, a 3,94% increase from the comparable interim period ended 31 December 2018 of 74,73 cents per share, calculated as being the lower of the Consumer Price Index ("CPI") or 5,0%, using data supplied by Statistics SA.

The Fortress B ordinary share ("FFB") dividend for the six months ended 31 December 2019 will be 74,84 cents per share, compared to the dividend of 77,49 cents per share for the comparable interim period ended 31 December 2018, a decrease of 3,42%.

The board has resolved that the dividend on the FFA shares and the FFB shares for the six months ended 31 December 2019 will be settled by way of a in specie distribution of Resilient REIT Limited ("Resilient") shares at a price of R52,69 per share. The in specie distribution will reduce the company's holding in Resilient shares to 2.7%. Further details on the implementation of the in specie distribution will be published together with the company's interim results.

GUIDANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2020

As the optimisation of the capital structure may result in a proposal to shareholders, guidance on a per share basis has been withdrawn.

5 March 2020

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Fortress REIT Limited published this content on 05 March 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 05 March 2020 20:52:08 UTC