Why I am not investing in Malawi Real Estate Stocks. A focus on ICON:
A huge portion of the profit for Malawi real estate companies like ICON Properties is essentially "paper profit," making the reported income quality very low.
In 2024, 67% of ICON's 29 billion MWK of income came from Fair Value Gains on investment properties (19.8bn MWK).
Meanwhile, only 24% came from the core business of Rental Income (7bn MWK).
The 'impressive', 24 billion profit after tax is driven mainly by valuation reports pushing the price up, and NOT sustainable, recurring cash from tenants.
Mkango confirms its Songwe Hill rare earth project remains unaffected by President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s export ban. The order only targets raw minerals.
Mkango will produce a refined mixed rare earth carbonate product within Malawi, so operations continue with engineering and design underway.