FCOT – BT

Frasers Commercial Trust's Q1 DPU up 8.1%

Frasers Commercial Trust (FCT) said on Thursday its second-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) rose year-on-year to 1.74 Singapore cents from 1.61 Singapore cents a year ago.

Distributable income to unitholders was S$11.2 million for the second quarter ended March 31, a rise of 10.9 per cent from a year ago.

This is achieved on the back of good asset performance and lower interest expenses, said Low Chee Wah, chief executive of Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management, which is the manager of the trust.

FCT's Q2 net property income has also risen to S$24.76 million, up 3.8 per cent for the year-ago period. Gross revenue similarly gained 4.2 per cent to S$30.87 million.

For the half-year period, DPU rose 13.2 per cent year-on-year to 3.24 Singapore cents.

This works out to an annualised yield of 7.4 per cent based on FCT's closing price of S$0.88 per unit on April 18.

FCT's distributable income to unitholders for the half-year period was S$20.78 million, an increase of 16 per cent year-on-year. Net property income has also risen 6 per cent to S$49.39 million.

Its gross revenue grew 5 per cent year-on-year to S$61.53 million, helped by higher rental rates achieved from new and renewed leases.

FCT's Singapore portfolio occupancy of 96.6 per cent fared slightly better than its average occupancy rate of 96.1 per cent.

"The rents of our Singapore properties continue to be competitive and the occupancies remain healthy with positive growth from the Australian properties providing a good uplift to the income of the portfolio," Mr Low said.

"Collectively, they provide a strong platform and underpin the growth of FCT," he added.

Unitholders can expect to receive their first-half FY12 DPU on May 30.