“The long term strategy of the Select Group, and specifically in Eswatini is to diversify its loan book by offering mortgage-type financing to potential customers currently not being serviced by the conventional banking sector.”
This is contained in the SBC Limited & Subsidiaries Group unaudited results for the six month period ended 30 June 2023.
The SBC Limited Group provides financial solutions to customers in both Lesotho, under Lesana & in Eswatini trading as Select Limited.
The company notes that housing remains a fundamental area with substantial medium to long term growth strategies in place to ensure future value is realized.
The Group has successfully developed Malkerns Square, a residential property development.
The company further states that it is currently exploring the feasibility of offering a ‘Rent to Own’ housing product, whereby the customer would enter a long term rental contract for a housing unit with the ultimate ownership transferring over to the client at the date of the last rental instalment being paid.
“The lending risk inherent in this concept is materially different to that of our current loan book offerings. The advantage of this new loan offering being that each loan is secured by an asset in the form of a Pine Acres developed property.”
The investment group discloses that finance under the “Rent to Own” will be provided by the Select Group to successful clients.
Worth noting is that the Eswatini Housing Board has also stated that it is working on a “Rent to Own” model.
However, as it stands, it isn’t operational and if the Select Group operationalizes it first they could be the first in the country to roll-out this model.
“It is appropriate to consider the possibility of potentially restructuring the current Loan Book Company (Select Ltd) and the property development company (Pine Acres) to ensure efficiencies and synergies are achieved in line with our long term strategy.”