Category: KepREIT
Office REITs – UOBKH
Office REITs
Cooling off in bidding for office site
Auction for Marina View Land Parcel B located diagonally behind One Shenton has closed with only two bids, reflecting cautiousness for commercial properties due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US. Marina View Land Parcel B has site area of 0.9hectare and can be developed into maximum gross floor area of 1.2m sf with at least 60% utilised for office and at least 25% utilised for hotel.
The top bid from MacQuarie Global Property Advisors came in at S$952.9m or S$779.42psf ppr. This is lower than CB Richard Ellis’ expectation of S$1,200 to S$1,300. Knight Frank has expected bids of between S$1.1b to S$1.3b or S$900 to S$1,060psf ppr. The second bid from CapitaLand came in at S$898m or S$734.52psf ppr. Some industry players are concerned that the latest site may not be awarded because the reserve price may not have been met.
Monthly gross rents of Grade A office space in Raffles Place increased by 18.2% qoq to average at $15.00psf in 3Q07. Capital values of Grade A office space in Raffles Place has also risen 23.8% qoq to an average of $2,416psf (source: Colliers International). K-REIT Asia and Suntec REIT have also recently acquired one-third stakes in One Raffles Quay at S$941.5m or S$2,115psf.
The limited supply of office space coming on stream over the next three years will provide some cushion for office properties. However, the cooling off in bidding for office sites within the Central Business District will have a dampening effect on share price for office REITs such as K-REIT, Suntec REIT and CapitalCommercial.
K-Reit – SGX
PAYMENT OF MANAGEMENT FEES BY WAY OF UNITS IN K-REIT ASIA
This mode of paying the Company’s management fees in the form of Units is provided for in the trust deed constituting K-REIT Asia. With this payment, the Company’s current holding of Units is 2,683,077 Units.
Source : SGX
K-REIT – BT
K-Reit’s Q3 distributable income up 31%
Better occupancies and higher rentals lead to improved performance
K-REIT Asia yesterday said that its third-quarter income distributable to its unitholders rose 31.3 per cent to $5.4 million – from $4.1 million a year ago – as the trust benefited from higher rents in its properties.
The better performance pushed the real estate investment trust’s distribution per unit to 2.23 cents, up 30.4 per cent from the 1.71 cents paid out for the same three months last year.
Net property income increased 19.7 per cent to $7.5 million, from $6.3 million a year ago.
K-Reit attributed the improved performance to higher revenues as a result of better occupancies and higher rentals achieved for new and renewed leases.
‘The portfolio attained 99.6 per cent committed occupancy as at end-September 2007 on the back of continued strong underlying demand for office space,’ K-Reit said. ‘Average gross rental rates reached $4.43 per square foot per month (psf pm) in September 2007, from $3.71 psf pm for the same period in 2006.’
Also in the third quarter, the trust announced its maiden acquisition since its listing in April 2006.
It said it will buy parent company Keppel Land’s one-third stake in One Raffles Quay for $941.5 million. The acquisition will more than double K-Reit’s portfolio to $1.8 billion.
The acquisition is subject to the approval of shareholders of both Keppel Land and K-Reit at their respective extraordinary general meetings, which will be held today. Keppel Land owns about 40 per cent of K-Reit.
Going forward, K-Reit will actively seek acquisitions of prime commercial properties in Singapore and other Asian growth cities to grow its portfolio size to a targeted $2 billion, it said.
The trust said that about 70 per cent of its portfolio’s net lettable area is due for renewal between 2008 and 2010, which puts it in a good position to ride on the rising rental market, which is underpinned by strong demand and tight supply.
K-Reit’s shares closed one cent down at $2.95 yesterday. The stock has climbed 18 per cent since the start of the year.
K-REIT – SGX
Continued Positive Growth in Net Profit and Distributable Income
- Net Profit increases to $11.8 million for the first nine months of 2007, outperforming the same period last year by 46.6%
- Higher rental income pushes up Distributable income by 34.8% to $14.9 million for the nine month period to September 2007.
- Distribution Per Unit (DPU) amounts to 6.14 cents for the year to date 2007, which works out to annualised DPU of 8.21 cents.
- Portfolio’s committed occupancy remains strong at 99.6% as of 30 September 2007.
Consistent Improvement in Performance
K-REIT Asia Management Ltd, the manager of K-REIT Asia, is pleased to announce that K-REIT Asia achieved a distributable income of $14.9 million for the period from 1 January to 30 September 2007, up 34.8% from the same period in 2006. Backed by higher occupancy and rental rates, rental income was higher at $28.3 million. This in turn pushed up property income by 17.7% year-on-year to reach $29 million.
DPU continued to improve with the rise in net property income and distributable income. DPU
increased by 4.2% from 2.14 cents in 2Q2007 to 2.23 cents in 3Q2007. For the first nine months of 2007, DPU amounted to 6.14 cents and 8.21 cents on an annualised basis.
Execution of Growth Strategy with Maiden Acquisition
K-REIT Asia has proposed to acquire a one-third interest in One Raffles Quay (ORQ) from Keppel Land for $941.5 million. The strategic acquisition will more than double K-REIT Asia’s portfolio size to $1.76 billion and will further strengthen its position as a premier office-focused commercial REIT in Singapore. In addition, yield accretion from the acquisition of the ORQ stake will benefit unitholders with a higher distribution payout. The acquisition is subject to the approval of shareholders of Keppel Land and unitholders of K-REIT Asia at their respective Extraordinary General Meetings to be held on 11 October 2007.
The manager will continue to actively seek acquisitions of prime commercial properties in Singapore and other Asian growth cities to further grow K-REIT Asia’s portfolio size to a targeted $2 billion. KREIT Asia will also identify possible asset enhancement initiatives to add value and achieve better returns for its existing properties.
Rosy Office Market Outlook Suggests Further Rental Growth
The Singapore economy continues to expand at a steadily pace and the Singapore government has earlier revised upward its GDP growth forecast for 2007 to 7 – 8% from 5 – 7% previously. Economic growth is now more broad-based, driven particularly by the construction, manufacturing and financial services sectors.
Demand for prime office space is expected to remain strong with continued economic growth, sound business prospects and further expansion of the financial services sector. As such, prime office rents are expected to increase further, especially when new office supply in the central business district (CBD) remains scarce over the next two to three years. With demand surpasses supply, prime office rents edged up further to $12.60 psf in 3Q2007 from $10.80 psf in 2Q2007 and $6.90 psf a year ago.
The buoyant prime office market will continue to augur well for K-REIT Asia, given its portfolio of quality office buildings in the CBD and the new downturn at Marina Bay following the acquisition of the one-third stake in ORQ. With about 70% of the portfolio’s net lettable area due for renewal between 2008 and 2010, K-REIT Asia is in a good position to ride on the rising rental market, underpinned by strong underlying demand and tight supply.
Source : SGX
K-Reit – UBS