Month: October 2007
ART – SGX
ART UNITHOLDERS’ DISTRIBUTION 84% ABOVE 3Q 2006
Boosted by strong performance from Philippine and Singapore properties Singapore, 24 Oct 2007 – Ascott Residence Trust (ART) achieved a unitholders’ distribution1 of S$12.0 million for the period 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007, a 84% increase over the same period last year, underpinned by strong operating performance and accretive acquisitions. Distribution per unit (DPU) for the same period is 1.99 cents, an increase of 39% over 3Q 2006. This is also 9% higher than the forecast2 of 1.82 cents.
Mr Lim Jit Poh, Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited’s (ARTML) Chairman, said: “ART has achieved a geographically-diversified portfolio across stable and emerging markets, with properties spanning Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, The Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. The portfolio, which has expanded from the initial 12 properties to 18 properties, has delivered growing returns to unitholders. As part of the overall growth strategy, ART will continue to acquire quality serviced residences and rental housing properties to achieve a portfolio value of S$2 billion by end-2008.”
Mr Chong Kee Hiong, ARTML’s CEO, said: “ART has outperformed our forecast for the third quarter with overall revenue per available unit (RevPAU) registering 9% higher than forecast. In particular, RevPAU for our serviced residences in the Philippines and Singapore were 32% and 22% better than forecast. Demand for serviced residences is expected to remain strong and we are confident of delivering the forecast distribution per unit of 7.27 cents for the year.”
ART’s portfolio value now stands at S$1.2 billion. It comprises 2,952 serviced residence units in 18 properties in 10 cities across seven countries.
1 There is no distribution declared for the period 1 July to 30 September 2007. ART makes distributions to unitholders on a semi-annual basis, with the amount calculated as at 30 June and 31 December each year for the six-month period ending on each of the said dates.
2 The forecast is extracted from the Offer Information Statement dated 12 March 2007, pro-rated for 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007 and is based on assumptions set out in the Offer Information Statement.
Source : SGX
CRCT – SGX
CRCT’s Third Quarter 2007 Distribution Exceeds Forecast(1) by 9.0%(2)
Achieved close to 100% occupancy rates at Wangjing Mall and Xinwu Mall
Distribution Per Unit in CRCT (“DPU”) for Third Quarter 2007(4) is 1.71 cents (6.80 cents on an annualised basis), which is 9.0%(2) higher than the forecast1 DPU of 1.57 cents (6.24 cents on an annualised basis) for the same period.
Mr Lim Beng Chee, Chief Executive Officer of CRCTML, said, “CRCT has outperformed our forecast to deliver 1.71 cents to unitholders(3) for Third Quarter 2007(4). Our continuous diligence in pro-actively managing our malls has been the driver for the robust growth in occupancy rates and increased shopper traffic across the portfolio. Going forward, we expect the overall net property income of the portfolio to improve significantly. CRCT’s portfolio size is also set to grow from S$805.7 million(5) to S$1.20 billion(6) with the recently announced proposed yield accretive acquisition of Xizhimen Mall in Beijing. The acquisition of this prime mall is expected to raise CRCT’s future DPU to above the current quarter’s annualised DPU of 6.80 cents, further driving long term growth prospects for unitholders. We look forward to unitholders’ support for the proposed acquisition of Xizhimen Mall at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting.”
(1) Based on the forecast shown in CRCT Prospectus dated 29 November 2006 (“the Prospectus”)
(2) Actual annualised Distribution Per Unit for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007 versus the forecast annualised Distribution Per Unit for the same period
(3) After the first distribution payment which was paid on 24 September 2007 and as disclosed in the Prospectus, subsequent distribution will be paid on a semi-annual basis for the six-month periods ending 30 June and 31 December of each year within 90 days after each of the said dates
(4) For the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007
(5) Based on CRCT’s existing portfolio of seven properties as at 30 September 2007
(6) After taking into account the proposed acquisition of Xizhimen Mall
CCT – SGX
Resilient portfolio to benefit from strong positive rental reversion
Singapore, 23 October 2007 – The Manager of CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT), CapitaCommercial Trust Management Limited (the Manager), is pleased to announce a distributable income of S$29.6 million to the unitholders of CCT for the financial period of 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007 (3Q 2007). This is 52.4% higher than the S$19.4 million reported for the corresponding period in 2006 (3Q 2006).
The 3Q 2007 distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.14 cents or 8.49 cents (annualised) registers an increase of 18.9% compared to 3Q 2006 DPU of 1.80 cents or 7.14 cents (annualised). This is 12.6% higher than the forecast DPU of 1.90 cents or 7.52 cents (annualised), as stated in the CCT circular to unitholders dated 15 August 2006 (the Circular Forecast).
CCT’s DPU for the first nine months of 2007 is 6.37 cents or 8.52 cents (annualised) which translates to a distribution yield of 3.4% based on the closing price of S$2.47 per unit on 22 October 2007.
Mr Richard Hale, Chairman of the CapitaCommercial Trust Manager, said: “CapitaCommercial Trust has outperformed its forecasts consistently and continues to generate higher distribution to unitholders. This is due to our efforts in actively managing our portfolio in Singapore while looking for opportunities in Asia. CapitaCommercial Trust recently increased its investment exposure in Malaysia via Quill Capita Trust, which enlarged its portfolio size by 78% from RM276 million to RM491 million after the completion of two acquisitions in Kuala Lumpur in September 2007. In Singapore, the on-going asset enhancement work at Raffles City will generate positive returns when the works are completed by December this year. In addition, CapitaCommercial Trust’s acquisition of Wilkie Edge, if approved by unitholders at a forthcoming extraordinary general meeting, will bring the total asset size of the trust to close to S$4.8 billion. CapitaCommercial Trust will continue to actively source for more growth opportunities.”
Ms Lynette Leong, Chief Executive Officer of the Manager, added, “The better financial performance year-on-year is a result of the accretive acquisition of Raffles City last year and the higher rental income from our quality office portfolio. Strong leasing demand, underpinned by the robust economic performance in the Asian region continues to propel growth in the Singapore office property market. Rentals committed at our prime assets have surpassed Singapore’s highest rental rate of S$11.50 per sq ft per month during the peak of the office market in 1990. With more than 50% of our leases expiring in 2008 and 2009, we expect strong, positive rental reversion to be realised from our resilient portfolio. We will continue to drive asset quality enhancement as well as manage tenant relationships to ensure high tenant retention rates. We will also actively seek good acquisition opportunities to grow our portfolio to achieve our target asset size of S$5 to S$6 billion by 2009. These factors are expected to contribute significantly to CCT’s growth going forward.”
In the coming month, there will be an extraordinary general meeting to obtain unitholders’ approval for the acquisition of Wilkie Edge. The acquisition will offer further diversification to CCT’s portfolio given Wilkie Edge’s location in the Central Area within Singapore’s Arts, Culture, Learning and Entertainment hub.
For Raffles City, Phase I asset enhancement work is on track to complete by end of 2007 and it will add to the asset’s net property income next year. In addition, commitment for the space under asset enhancement is already close to 100%. The reconfiguration works on the ground level of Capital Tower have been completed and most of the retail outlets have started their businesses in the third quarter of 2007.
Source: SGX
a-iTrust – SGX
a-iTrust achieves strong half-year DPU of 2.95 Singapore cents, 17% above half-year forecast
a-iTrust delivered a strong set of results for the first half of the year ended 30 September 2007. Net property income was S$28.7 million or 66% higher than the same period last year, and 18% higher than its forecast for the period.
Distributable income for the half year was S$22.2 million or 17% above forecast(1). DPU was 2.95 Singapore cents, which represented an annualized yield of 5.0% over the Initial Public Offer price of S$ 1.18 per unit.
(1) A full-year distributable income of S$ 42.3 million was disclosed in the prospectus; if segregated into half years, the distributable income forecast for 1H is S$ 19.0 million and for 2H, S$ 23.3 million. Details of the full results announcement can be found at www.sgx.com and www.a-itrust.com.
The Trustee-Manager expects the trust to deliver the forecast performance for the second half of the year, and hence, given the first half’s results, is confident of at least meeting its DPU forecast of 5.6 Singapore cents for the full year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Net asset value (“NAV”) as at 30 September 2007 was S$ 869.6 million or S$ 1.16 per unit, which was higher than the pro forma NAV of S$ 1.05 per unit disclosed in the Capitalization and Indebtedness section of the prospectus dated 24 July 2007.
A key contributor to the sound results was the strong operational performance of aiTrust’s assets, underpinned by the quality of the assets and the booming Indian economy. Higher revenue and cost control had boosted operational performance and cash flows.
Chief Executive Officer of the Trustee-Manager, Mr. Jonathan Yap said, “We are pleased to report a strong set of results which has benefited from the vibrant Indian ITITES sector, resounding support from the user-clients and Trustee-Manager’s proactive asset and portfolio management. We remain focused to build on the momentum and deliver returns to unitholders.”
A Well Diversified Portfolio with High Occupancy
India is the world leader and centre for IT and ITES outsourcing with about 60% global market share and the cities a-iTrust invest in, namely Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad have a combined 64% of India’s IT and ITES revenue. a-iTrust has a diversified portfolio of four IT Parks in those cities.
Over the first half year, 700,000 sq. ft. of space within the portfolio of operating buildings was renewed or leased, at higher average rental rates than before. The overall occupancy rate of a-iTrust’s portfolio was 99% as at 30 September 2007.
a-iTrust’s portfolio spreads across a number of sub-sectors such as software development, business process off-shoring, research and development, and data centres. Presently, no single tenant accounts for more than 6% of the total monthly base rental.
Portfolio to Grow through Organic Growth and Three-Pronged Acquisition Strategy
The two completing buildings in the a-iTrust’s portfolio, namely Crest, the 2nd building at International Tech Park Chennai (“ITPC”) and Vega, the 5th building at The V had enjoyed strong pre-commitment of 73% and 72% of space respectively, and marketing of the balance space is in progress. The leased space is being progressively handed over to tenants for fitting-out, and income contribution is expected to commence in 2H FY2007/2008. These 2 buildings will add another 1.1 million sq. ft. of space to aiTrust’s current portfolio of 3.6 million sq. ft. of completed space, increasing a-iTrust’s total lettable space by more than 30% to 4.7 million sq. ft. of space.
There is additional 1.5 million sq. ft. of new space being planned for construction commencement in this financial year. Thereafter, there is still a development potential of 2.7 million sq. ft. within a-iTrust portfolio.
a-iTrust enjoys a right of first refusal from Ascendas Land International Pte Ltd. (“ALI”) to acquire substantially income producing business space. ALI owns Cybervale, (comprising of 4 completed/ potential buildings with a total built up of 1.1 million sq. ft.), an IT Park spreading over 18.5 acres of land within Mahindra World City, an IT Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”) in Chennai.
The first building (250,000 sq ft) of Cybervale, named “Lakeside” has recently been completed and is fully leased out. The development of 2 of the 3 remaining potential buildings are in different stages of implementation. The Trustee-Manager intends to explore with ALI on the acquisition of Cybervale upon its stabilisation.
a-iTrust also has a similar right of first refusal from Ascendas India Development Trust (“AIDT”). AIDT has committed equity of S$ 500 million and target investment size of S$ 1 billion. AIDT has already identified investments with about 7 million sq. ft. of development potential and is currently pursuing more opportunities. AIDT will make such announcements at the appropriate stage.
The Trustee-Manager is also concurrently pursuing acquisition opportunities from themarket.
Looking Forward
The Trustee-Manager will continue to focus on growing the operating earnings of its assets, optimizing its capital structure, and growing the portfolio through acquisition and developing its in-built development pipeline.
Source : SGX
FirstREIT – BT
First Reit posts distributable income of $4.61m for Q3
Trust confident of boosting value of assets to $500m before end-2009
SINGAPORE’S first healthcare real estate investment trust (Reit) said yesterday that its third-quarter distributable income came to $4.61 million – 5.4 per cent higher than forecast – due to rental contributions from newly acquired properties.
First Real Estate Investment Trust (First Reit) bought Pacific Healthcare Nursing Homes at Bukit Merah and Senja in April, The Lentor Residence in June and Adam Road Hospital in July.
Distribution per unit (DPU) came to 1.72 cents for Q3 ended Sept 30, ahead of a 1.6 cents forecast. Net property income totalled $7 million, or 15.6 per cent higher than forecast.
Ronnie Tan, chief executive of Bowsprit Capital Corporation, which manages the Reit, said: ‘The regional macro-economic environment, including Indonesia and Singapore, where we have the bulk of our properties, remains positive for 2007.
‘As such, we are confident of exceeding our forecast DPU of 6.51 Singapore cents for the full year.’
The trust is confident of boosting the value of its assets to $500 million before end-2009, Dr Tan said.
First Reit now has eight properties worth $328 million. Its net asset value per unit came to 0.88 of a cent as at Sept 30.
The Reit recently ventured into China, where it agreed with hospitals in Wuxi, Shanghai and Jiangsu province to ‘explore potential acquisitions’.
Earlier this month, First Reit signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire the 90-bed Wuxi New District Phoenix Hospital. In August, it said that it was investing in a 500-bed hospital property in Jiangsu province.
Then, the following month, it agreed to invest in the property assets of the 200-bed Shanghai Woman and Child Healthcare Hospital and the proposed Hengshan Urology Hospital, both in Shanghai.
First Reit said that it is continuing to explore potential acquisitions with its sponsor Lippo Karawaci in Indonesia.
First Reit’s shares closed half a cent down at 77 cents yesterday, with 112,000 shares changing hands.