Centum signs Sh1.2bn Vipingo home deals

Investment company Centum #ticker:ICDC has signed sale agreements with prospective homebuyers for units worth Sh1.2 billion at its expansive Vipingo real estate project at the Coast.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm says it has sold 156 units, comprising of maisonettes, bungalows and apartments, at the 10,254-acre Vipingo Development in Kilifi.

The deals signed so far are the first of phased developments on the mixed-use land that will have residential, commercial, industrial and retail developments. Vipingo is one of Centum’s three large real estate projects with the other two being the Two Rivers Development and the Pearl Marina in Uganda.

The company controls a 58.3 per cent stake in the flagship 102-acre mixed-use Two Rivers Development Ltd in Nairobi. Centum posted a 35.18 per cent decline in unrealised gains on real estate investments to Sh4.18 billion which, together with delay in completing Sh2.32 billion sale of GenAfrica Asset Managers, pulled down its full-year net profit to Sh2.79 billion from Sh8.31 billion a year earlier.

The firm is set to release its half-year results on Monday.

“Unfortunately, we are not in a position to disclose the parties who have signed on the respective parcels due to a confidentiality agreement,” Centum said in a statement.

The publicly-traded firm said it has sold 46 units at the proposed Awali Estate at Vipingo ahead of ground-breaking set for early next month.