Business
Medine Group Targets 300 Acres Development at Wolmar Waterfront

In the last four years, Medine Group has undergone a significant transformation aimed at bolstering financial stability, fostering an agile corporate culture, and accelerating growth. This strategic restructuring revolves around three central pillars: financial transformation, which includes debt restructuring, aggressive cost reduction, and profit generation; cultural transformation, which fundamentally will enhance management capabilities and practices to improve performance and adapt to new challenges; and growth acceleration, leveraging a solid balance sheet to drive multi-modal development.
Currently, Medine is focusing on developing 300 acres in the Wolmar area, a strategy that has already proven lucrative.
By the end of the financial year on June 30, Medine reported a satisfactory increase in revenue, EBITDA, and post-tax profit.
The company’s debt has been paid down to a manageable level of Rs 4 billion, and it has distributed a special dividend of Rs 2.50 per share to shareholders, in addition to regular dividends.
Furthermore, two significant construction projects—Cascavelle Hospital and the expansion of Cascavelle Shopping Center—have been initiated and are progressing well.
In other sectors of the company, agriculture has thrived due to exceptional sugar prices, and although local visitor numbers at the Casela Nature Park have declined, tourist visits have increased, positively impacting performance.
In a recent financial report, René Leclézio, the president of Medine, indicated that studies are underway for the development of the group’s land at Wolmar Waterfront.
“The entire Wolmar Waterfront area, encompassing around 300 acres and including Tamarina Hotel, is undergoing extensive analysis.
While the infrastructure costs are quite high, we can alleviate the burden of initial negative cash flow through the sale of land and villas.
As Wolmar is our most valuable land asset, we need to invest the time necessary to ensure its successful development.
Considering it is our only seaside access, it’s crucial that this development caters to the maximum number of Mauritian families nearby, as well as the growing expatriate population seeking waterfront properties.”
The group is also exploring development projects near Albion, with Leclézio stating:
“The old mill, the two rivers, and the land descending to Albion’s cliff edge present perfect ingredients for a spectacular development.”
He also addressed the pressing demographic challenge facing Mauritius, a concern for all businesses.
Without efforts from authorities to encourage “controlled immigration,” the population figures are likely to stabilize and eventually decline.
This shift would lead to an older average population, resulting in fewer active workers supporting a growing number of retirees and a reduced market size.
“The advantage we have is a growing middle class with more disposable income to spend on housing, education, and health—three areas of focus for Medine,” he explained.
In the education sector, one of Medine’s growth areas, the group is nearing the completion of a master plan for its educational zone, including housing and facilities for students.
Although financial conditions remain stable this year, the education division has sparked considerable optimism among management, with expectations that investments will soon yield returns.
“We also believe that our initial target of 5,000 students in the area will be exceeded over time.” Leclézio added.
Real estate development is rapidly advancing, with land sales—both in bulk and by parcels—continuing to fuel the group’s growth.
This strategy not only enables debt repayment and increases dividends but also facilitates future investments.
“In fact, we are building a city in Western Mauritius that will be connected to the rest of the country via the new East-West connector, which will allow for essentially uninterrupted travel from the airport to Flic en Flac.
Most of this new road is expected to open next year, marking a game-changer for both the West and Medine.
This improvement will make Western Mauritius one of the most desirable places to live, work, and play, transforming it into a logistics hub for the distribution of various goods,” the group remarked with enthusiasm.
Dhiren Ponnusamy, the CEO of Medine, emphasized the financial stability achieved, noting that cash generation reached Rs 2 billion in the last financial year—a 60% increase compared to the previous year.
Part of this amount was used to distribute Rs 280 million in dividends, while the company invested Rs 870 million across its various ventures, including capacity expansion and construction projects like the Cascavelle Shopping Center’s extension.
The remaining Rs 830 million was allocated to further debt reduction, bringing the total debt down to Rs 4 billion.
“From a peak debt of Rs 8 billion four years ago, with an indebtedness exceeding 50%, we are now comfortably positioned with a debt ratio of 17%.
This shift has enabled us to reinvest in future revenue streams, and we are actively accelerating the pace of our investments.
We’ve worked diligently to establish a solid balance sheet with low debt, and we intend to maintain it,” Ponnusamy concluded.
All of Medine’s Build and Lease projects are now systematically financed through a 50/50 model, with at least 50% sourced from equity and the remainder covered by debt.
Source: Le Mauricien