FSL – BT
FSL Trust’s Q3 DPU drops 36.7%
FIRST Ship Lease Trust has announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.95 US cents for the third quarter – unchanged from the second quarter but 36.7 per cent lower than the year-ago DPU of 1.5 US cents.
The DPU – which represents an annualised tax-exempt yield of 10.3 per cent – works out to a Q3 distribution of US$5.7 million, down 28.6 per cent year on year. The fall was largely due a US$8 million repayment of secured bank loans for the quarter.
Revenue also took a hit from the premature termination of the long-term charters for FSL Hamburg and FSL Singapore – falling 4.9 per cent to US$23.4 million during the quarter due to the loss of US$3.8 million in bareboat charter revenue from the two tankers.
The tankers were arrested in China and Japan respectively by Daxin Petroleum in June on claims Daxin had not been paid by the ships’ lessees for the bunker that it supplied to the vessels.
FSL Hamburg and FSL Singapore were known as Nika I and Verona I, respectively, at the time of their arrest. The lessees of Nika I and Verona I had been Rovina Shipping and Mesino Shipping, respectively.
The trust’s management has since filed a suit claiming losses and damages caused by the arrests of the tankers from Daxin and its officials. The defendants have also filed their defence. ‘Legal proceedings are on-going and there are no material developments at this point,’ the trust’s management said yesterday.
According to it, both tankers were introduced to the product tanker spot market after their re-deliveries during the third quarter and had gained approvals from several oil majors.
‘Despite volatile freight rates in the spot market, the trustee-manager believes the vessels are now well-positioned to attain their full earnings potential,’ said Philip Clausius, chief executive of FSL Trust Management.
For the first nine months, the trust’s DPU stood at 3.4 US cents, 46.9 per cent lower than the previous year’s 6.4 US cents.
Amount available for distribution for the same period fell to US$20.4 million, from US$33 million a year earlier.
‘Asset values have recovered substantially and we are in full compliance with our debt covenants,’ said Mr Clausius.
As of September this year, the trust’s fleet had a charter-free value of US$700.3 million, compared to its outstanding secured debt of US$461.1 million as at Oct 1. This means that the trust has a value-to-loan (VTL) ratio of 152 per cent – satisfying the minimum ratio of 100 per cent stipulated by its credit facility’s debt covenant.
‘Assuming the current charter-free valuation of the vessels remains unchanged, the projected VTL ratio in July 2011 will be 160 per cent,’ the trust’s management said.
FCOT – BT
FCOT’s Q4 property income rises 16%
Distributable income surges 78%; DPU up 55% to 0.31 cents
FRASERS Commercial Trust (FCOT) rounded off its financial year ended Sept 30 with a strong set of earnings.
Net property income for the fourth quarter rose 16 per cent year on year to $23.2 million, boosted largely by contributions from Alexandra Technopark, which FCOT bought in August last year.
Contributions from two of FCOT’s properties in Australia, Central Park and Caroline Chisholm Centre, also grew partly as the Australian dollar strengthened.
Total distributable income was $14.3 million, surging 78 per cent from a year ago. Distribution per unit (DPU) rose 55 per cent to 0.31 cents. Distribution per Series A convertible perpetual preferred unit (CPPU) was 1.39 cents – 2.6 times of 0.54 cents last year.
‘We have been experiencing an increase in leasing activity in the Singapore and Australia properties due to new leases and expansion by existing tenants. This has translated to higher occupancies which will boost the distributable income,’ said Low Chee Wah, CEO of FCOT’s manager.
‘With the recovery in the economy, we have also seen the rental rates increased accordingly.’
At China Square Central, for instance, the committed occupancy rate was 93.1 per cent in September, up from 91.5 per cent in June.
FCOT also enjoyed an increase in its portfolio value. Based on its latest property valuation exercise as at Sept 30, its portfolio was worth $1.96 billion, up 1.9 per cent from the last valuation in 2009.
The trust’s properties in Singapore and Australia posted valuation gains, but those in Japan saw their values slip.
For the full year, FCOT’s net property income was $93 million, rising 25 per cent from last year. Total distributable income shot up by 89 per cent to $53.3 million.
DPU for the full year was 1.12 cents, up 29 per cent; distribution per CPPU was 5.5 cents, some 10.2 times of 0.54 cents a year ago.
FCOT will pay a distribution of 0.5549 cents per ordinary unit and a distribution per CPPU of 2.7575 cents for the second half of the financial year on Nov 29.
The counter closed unchanged yesterday at 16.5 cents.
CMT – BT
CapitaMall Trust posts steady Q3 results
Addition of Clarke Quay in July helps boost revenue 6%
CAPITAMALL Trust (CMT) delivered steady results for the third quarter ended Sept 30, supported by higher rents at its malls and contributions from a property bought in July.
CMT yesterday posted a gross revenue of $148.2 million, which is 6 per cent higher than that a year ago. The bulk of the increase came from Clarke Quay, which CMT bought on July 1.
Higher rental rates for new and renewed leases at other malls contributed to the rest of the increase. The average rental growth rate across CMT’s portfolio from January to September, on a compounded annual basis, was 2.1 per cent. This exceeded the 0.8 per cent for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009.
‘Growing tourist arrivals, supportive domestic demand and the resultant pick-up in consumer confidence will ensure that the retail market remain positive for the rest of the year,’ said James Koh, chairman of CMT’s manager. CMT’s distributable income to unitholders was $75.2 million, inching up 0.3 per cent from last year. Distribution per unit (DPU) was 2.36 cents, also up 0.3 per cent. The DPU ‘was in line with consensus and our estimates’, said Standard Chartered analysts Regina Lim and Wong Yan Ling in a note. Unitholders can expect to receive the Q3 DPU on Nov 29.
The annualised DPU was 9.36 cents. Based on CMT’s closing price of $2.02 yesterday, the annualised distribution yield works out to 4.6 per cent.
The occupancy rate of CMT’s portfolio was 99.6 per cent as at Sept 30, slipping slightly from the 99.8 per cent as at Dec 31 last year. CMT said that acquisitions, asset enhancements and participation in development projects are some ways in which it will try to grow its DPU.
‘CMT now has $840 million of cash and can invest $1.28 billion in assets before reaching 40 per cent gearing,’ Ms Lim and Ms Wong wrote. Its gearing ratio was 37.2 per cent as at Sept 30, up from 34.8 per cent three months ago. ‘We think management will seek development projects as these provide yield on cost of 6-6.5 per cent compared with typical acquisition yield of 5-5.5 per cent,’ they said.
MLT – BT
MapletreeLog’s Q3 DPU rises 4.1%; income up 8.1%
ACQUISITIONS have boosted Mapletree Logistics Trust’s (MapletreeLog) results for the third quarter ended Sept 30.
The trust yesterday posted a net property income of $47.6 million – up 8.1 per cent from a year ago. Amount distributable rose 9.5 per cent to $31.5 million.
As a result, the available distribution per unit (DPU) increased 4.1 per cent to 1.54 cents from 1.48 cents.
MapletreeLog bought 10 properties in Singapore, Japan, Korea and Vietnam in the past year, growing the book value of its portfolio by 16 per cent to $3.4 billion as at Sept 30 from $2.9 billion last year.
More acquisitions could come.
‘Singapore remains our key priority market; we believe it will continue to give us good investment opportunities with quality customers,’ said Richard Lai, CEO of MapletreeLog’s manager. ‘We are also continuing our expansion in markets such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and China.’
MapletreeLog might also go into new markets.
‘We are currently exploring several possibilities across Asia,’ Mr Lai added.
The occupancy rate for MapletreeLog’s portfolio as at Sept 30 was 98 per cent, up a notch from 97 per cent a quarter ago.
The trust’s aggregate leverage ratio as at Sept 30 was 39.9 per cent, rising from 38.8 per cent as at June 30.
MapletreeLog launched an equity fundraising exercise on Sept 21 to support its expansion, raising gross proceeds of $305 million.
Following this, instead of declaring a distribution for the period July 1 to Sept 30, it will declare a distribution for the period July 1 to Oct 14 – which was the day immediately before the date on which the new units were issued and listed. It will announce the cumulative DPU for this period later.
MapletreeLog gained two cents yesterday to close at 90.5 cents.
CCT – BT
CCT distributable income up 7.9% in Q3
But revenue slides on sale of Robinson Pt, StarHub Centre
CAPITACOMMERCIAL Trust (CCT) has reported a 4.7 per cent year on year drop in third-quarter gross revenue on account of the sale of Robinson Point and StarHub Centre. But it still managed a 7.9 per cent year on year rise in distributable income, thanks to lower property tax and interest savings as a result of lower borrowings.
The trust now had cash and cash equivalents of $730.9 million at end-September – more than double the $312.5 million at Dec 31, 2009. The increase was on the back of $577 million of net proceeds from the sale of the two buildings this year. CCT has not distributed the sales proceeds, saying it intends to retain them for growth opportunities and/or to repay debt.
‘The trust will continue to extract value from the portfolio through pro-active asset enhancement initiatives,’ said Richard Hale, chairman of CapitaCommercial Trust Management Ltd (CCTML).
‘We are actively sourcing for good quality assets that will complement our existing portfolio. We will also maintain a disciplined approach towards using the divestment proceeds, with careful consideration to the impact on the trust’s balance sheet and yield, and unit-holders’ returns.’
Standard Chartered Bank said in a report yesterday that after divesting the two non-core assets, CCT has $2.3 billion of unencumbered assets plus the $730.9 million of cash. ‘We believe CCT can invest around $2 billion without issuing new equity,’ said Stanchart. ‘Potentially, CCT could redevelop Market Street carpark for about $1 billion, which could provide a yield on cost of 5.5-8 per cent. CCT may also buy assets in Singapore, including 50 Collyer Quay for $1 billion or Asia Square for $2.2 billion, without issuing equity. These could be yield-accretive given current low interest rates of about 2.5 per cent versus a prime office capitalisation rate of 3.5 per cent.’
CCT’s gearing ratio has fallen – from 32.8 per cent in Q2 2010 to 31.5 per cent in Q3 2010. ‘We have completed all refinancing due in 2010 and are already exploring options to refinance the borrowings due in future years,’ said CCTML’s CEO Lynette Leong. CCT has total gross debt of about $1.9 billion, including $850 million due next year and $713 million due 2012.
For Q3 ended Sept 30, 2010, gross revenue fell 4.7 per cent year on year to $97.8 million. Net property income dipped one per cent to $76.3 million, but distributable income rose 7.9 per cent to $56.2 million. Distribution per unit (DPU) for Q3 works out to $1.99 – a year on year rise of 7.6 per cent.
On an annualised basis, the Q3 DPU translates to a distribution yield of 5.5 per cent based on CCT’s Oct 20 closing price of $1.44 per unit. The counter closed one cent higher at $1.45 yesterday. There is no distribution payment for Q3 as the trust distributes semi-annually.
CCTML said it signed new leases and renewals for about 138,000 sq ft in Q3, taking the figure for the first nine months to 560,000 sq ft. New tenancies sealed in Q3 included Ai Mien Bar Holding, which will operate a chic Chinese restaurant featuring seasonal and regional flavoured noodles on the ground floor of Capital Tower, and AXA Rosenberg Investment Management Asia Pacific, at One George Street.
Lease renewals in Q3 included Neste Oil Singapore and Orix Investment & Management, at Raffles City, and Robert Walters (Singapore) at Six Battery Road.
CCTML said asset enhancement works for Six Battery Road will kick off next month, with the main lobby getting a face-lift first. Growth in demand for prime and Grade A office space is expected to continue into the current quarter and 2011, it said. ‘As a result, there is less concern that large volumes of secondary stock will be left unoccupied when some major tenants relocate to newer buildings in the Marina Bay area.
‘Pre-leasing for the newer office space scheduled for completion in 2011 remains strong, indicating that the overall positive momentum in the Singapore office market will likely be sustained even with the increase in office stock from the completion of the new office buildings.’
For the first nine months, CCT posted a 0.1 per cent year on year drop in gross revenue to $299.8 million. Net property income rose 3.6 per cent to $228.1 million, while distributable income increased 14.2 per cent to $166.3 million. DPU rose 13.7 per cent to 5.89 cents.