Ascendas Reit (A-Reit) has announced net property income increased by 20.9 per cent to $74 million for the third quarter FY2008/09 compared to a year ago.

This was attributed to organical growth of 38.2 per cent through rental rate increases.

Distribution per unit (DPU) for the three months ended 31 December 2008 was 4.05 cents per unit, an increase of 13.8 per cent on the 3.56 cents recorded in the same quarter of the last financial year. This represents an annualized yield of 11.6 per cent based on the closing price of $1.37 per unit on 31 December 2008.

As at 31 December 2008, A-REIT has 74.7 per cent of its total debt hedged into fixed rate for the next 3.7 years.

A-Reit’s manager also said it is in discussion with some of its existing lenders on the refinancing and extension of its loan facilities and will continue to explore various funding options to enhance its capital structure and to strength its balance sheet.