CDL H-Trust – BT

CDLHT Q1 net income rises 20% to $24.7m

CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) posted improved results for the first quarter ended March 31 on the back of higher room rates, occupancies and contributions from recently acquired hotels.

‘We remain optimistic about the continued growth for hospitality demand, driven by a rebound in business travel and the revitalisation of Singapore’s tourism and retail landscape,’ said CEO of M&C Reit Management, Vincent Yeo.

CDLHT raked in net property income of $24.7 million in Q1, up 20 per cent from a year ago. Contributions from five hotels it bought in Australia in January boosted earnings. In Singapore, there was also a 15.8 per cent increase in room revenue per available room (RevPAR) – to $174, from $150.

In line with the economic recovery, demand for hotel rooms was very strong, Mr Yeo said. ‘High occupancies of 84 per cent were achieved, considerably exceeding that for Q1 2009 and matching previous Q1 peaks since the inception of CDLHT.’ The average occupancy rate in Q1 2009 was about 75 per cent.

He added that the average daily rate rebounded year-on-year for the first time since Q2 2008. It was $207 in Q1, 3 per cent more than the $201 a year ago.

As net property income grew, so did income available for distribution. The latter was $19.4 million in Q1, which is 18 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

Income available for distribution per stapled security in Q1 – after deducting income retained for working capital – was 2.32 cents, up 18 per cent from 1.97 cents year-on-year.

On an annualised basis, the latest Q1 figure is 9.41 cents. Based on CDLHT’s closing unit price of $1.90 on Thursday, this works out to an annualised distribution yield of 4.95 per cent.

The counter gained three cents to end trading at $1.93 yesterday.

CDLHT said that its strong performance in Q1 has continued into Q2 – the RevPAR for its hotels in Singapore have grown around 38 per cent in April. It also expects average room rates to continue registering healthy increases compared with last year.

It is counting on the opening of more attractions to draw more visitors. For instance, more areas at Resorts World Sentosa will be operational in the later part of this year and in 2011.

As at March 31, CDLHT’s debt-to-asset ratio was 30.9 per cent, much higher than the 19.1 per cent three months ago.