SINGAPORE - Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Suntec Reit) distribution per unit (DPU) for the first quarter ended March declined 13 per cent year on year to 1.511 cents, in the absence of the Reit’s capital distribution that concluded in end-2023.
The distribution will be paid out to unit holders on May 30, after the record date on May 6.
Distribution for the quarter stood at $44 million, down 12.5 per cent from the prior year.
Suntec Reit’s manager on April 25 said DPU for the quarter was 1.8 per cent lower on an operational basis, which would exclude factoring in 2023’s capital distribution.
Based on this, distributable income from operations would have been 1.1 per cent lower on the year.
Both the declines in operational DPU and distributable income were also due to higher financing costs, as well as vacancies at the Reit’s overseas assets, namely 55 Currie Street in Adelaide, Southgate Complex in Melbourne, and The Minster Building in London.
The manager noted that operational performance from the Reit’s Singapore office, retail and convention portfolio nonetheless “continued to strengthen”.
Gross revenue from the Singapore office portfolio grew 1.1 per cent year on year to $36.4 million, due to higher occupancy and rent at Suntec City Office.
Net property income (NPI) from the portfolio remained unchanged at $27.3 million.
Joint venture income from the portfolio rose 11.3 per cent on the year to $16.8 million as One Raffles Quay and the Reit’s Marina Bay Financial Centre properties also booked higher occupancy and rent.
The Singapore retail portfolio performance also improved on a year-on-year basis over the first quarter, with gross revenue up 3 per cent to $34.3 million and NPI rising 1.3 per cent to $23.6 million.
Suntec Reit’s convention revenue grew 26.1 per cent to $11.6 million, with a 160 per cent growth in NPI to $1.3 million amid higher revenue from meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, long-term licences and advertising.
Mr Chong Kee Hiong, chief executive of the manager, noted that both the Singapore office and retail portfolios had achieved double-digit rent reversions over the quarter, while the convention business’ year-on-year growth was “strong”.
As at end-March 2024, the Reit’s net asset value per unit stood at $2.09, down from $2.10 as at end-2023.
Its gearing was 42.2 per cent compared with 42.3 per cent at the end of 2023, while weighted average debt maturity stood at 3.57 years versus three years.
The manager estimated that Suntec Reit’s refinancing of $950 million of loans due in financial year 2024 and financial year 2026 resulted in savings of about $3.1 million per annum.
Mr Chong said that the Reit will continue to work on “divesting our mature assets and strata units at Suntec City Office so as to lower our gearing and deliver long-term value to our unit holders”.
Units of Suntec Reit ended on April 24 at one cent, or 0.9 per cent, higher at $1.10. THE BUSINESS TIMES
