FirstREIT – SGX

First REIT acquires 3rd Singapore nursing home (51 Lentor Avenue) for S$12.8 million

  • Marks the Group’s 4th acquisition in Singapore
  • Expected incremental annualized distribution per unit of 0.067 Singapore cents

SINGAPORE – 1 June 2007 – First Real Estate Investment Trust (“First REIT”), Singapore’s first healthcare real estate investment trust, announced that it has entered into a conditional Option Agreement (“Option Agreement”) for the acquisition and lease of a nursing home at 51 Lentor Avenue (the “Property”) for S$12.8 million.

This latest move follows First REIT’s acquisition of two nursing homes and a hospital in Singapore in January 2007.

The Option Agreement was entered into with the Vendor – Sphere Investment Pte Ltd, which currently owns the four storey custom-built 148-bed nursing home with a land area of 2,485.6 square metres and gross floor area of 2,982.721 square metres. Upon the completion of the acquisition, First REIT will in turn lease the Property to First Lentor Residence Pte Ltd for 10 years at a commencement rental income of S$998,400 per annum, with an option to renew the lease before the expiry. In addition, First REIT will enjoy annual step up rental increases in the subsequent years for up to 10 years.First REIT, which expects the acquisition to be completed by June 2007, estimates that Property will give rise to an incremental annualised distribution per unit (“DPU”) of 0.067 cents.

“This acquisition will represent our third nursing home in Singapore. We will continue to identify acquisition targets for modern and purpose-built nursing homes in Singapore as they provide relatively high yield with stable and high occupancy,” said Dr Ronnie Tan, Chief Executive Officer of Bowsprit Capital Corporation Limited, as manager of First REIT (the “Manager”).

Dr Tan added, “Not only will this acquisition further strengthen our income stream, it will also enlarge First REIT’s asset portfolio, raising it to S$293.1 million once the deal is completed. This will expand our asset base by 14% since our IPO in December 2006. Our investment goal is clear – to grow our asset base to S$500 million within 3 years from the initial public offer, focusing on quality healthcare assets in Asia. Based on the acquisition momentum we have set, and the pipeline of acquisitions which we are currently negotiating, we believe we are on track to achieve our target.”

The acquisition will be fully funded by debt via the proceeds of a S$90 million term loan from Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation set up on 11 January 2007. Assuming that the acquisition is successfully completed by June 2007, First REIT’s gearing will be raised from the current 7.88% to 11.68% as at 30 June 2007.

“Our gearing after the acquisition will still be relatively low, giving us financing flexibility to undertake more acquisitions that fit in with our strategy. We will continue to look out for quality healthcare assets in different parts of Asia so as to reduce our reliance on any single country or type of tenants,” added Dr Tan.

First REIT believes that it is well positioned to benefit from Asia’s growing healthcare industry, supported by rising life expectancies in the region, increasing consolidation within the Asian healthcare industry, as well as the growing demand for healthcare services. Itremains confident of delivering on its FY2007 forecast distribution of 6.51 cents as indicated in First REIT’s prospectus dated 4 December 2006.

Source : SGX

June 1, 2007 FirstREIT No Comments »

MMP

COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION OF PORTFOLIO OF SIX PROPERTIES IN TOKYO

Further to the announcement of 10 April 2007, Macquarie Pacific Star Prime REIT Management Limited, as Manager of Macquarie MEAG Prime Real Estate Investment Trust (MMP REIT) is pleased to announce that HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited, as Trustee of MMP REIT, has today completed the acquisition of a portfolio of six properties in Tokyo, Japan, (the Fund Creation Portfolio) for a total purchase price of ¥8,727 million. The purchase price and other acquisition costs of the Fund Creation Portfolio have been fully funded by debt.


The Fund Creation Portfolio was acquired from: Yugen Kaisha Triton Property and Fund Creation Co., Ltd. (Fund Creation); and Yugen Kaisha Kereos Property and Fund Creation respectively.

Fund Creation has been appointed as the local asset manager of the Fund Creation Portfolio for a period of one year from 30 May 2007, with the option for MMP REIT or its nominee to extend that appointment by another year.

With the completion of this acquisition, MMP REITs portfolio comprises eight assets located in Singapore and Japan, valued in aggregate at approximately S$1.6 billion.

May 31, 2007 MMP, MP REIT, StarHill No Comments »

MI-REIT : UBS

Good Exposure To Singapore’s Stable Industrial REIT Segment

MacarthurCook Industrial REIT (MI-REIT) is the fourth industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore, with a portfolio of 12 fully tenanted industrial properties in Singapore. The assets are valued at a total of S$316.2m, with a total net lettable area of 2.10m sf. More than 70% of MI-REIT’s total rental income comes from SGX-listed companies or their subsidiaries.

Attractive yield and steady income. The forecast DPU yields of 6.18% and 6.32% for FY08 and FY09 respectively are the highest among Singapore’s industrial REITs. In addition, all of MI-REIT’s leases are long-term leases ranging from three to 10 years, with an average lease duration of 6.7 years. There is no rental expiry for all of its 12 properties until 2010, when 12.1% of the rental income is due for renewal, providing a steady stream of income for the next three years at least. We see organic growth potential as the rental agreements come with escalation clauses with an average compounded annual rental income growth rate of 3.00% in FY08-12.

Acquisitions to drive DPU growth and enhance unit value. MI-REIT aims to acquire up to S$500m worth of industrial assets p.a. over the next three years and increase its overseas mix to 60%, with the initial focus on acquisitions in Hong Kong, China, Japan and Malaysia. We believe there are abundant acquisition opportunities in Singapore and overseas for MIREIT to meet its objectives. In addition, MI-REIT has the first right of refusal to purchase all the industrial properties in Asia sourced by its parent, MacarthurCook, for a period of five years from the launch date.

Key risks. We see key risks from the following: a) high concentration risk in UE Tech Park, b) uncertainty in quality of subtenants, and c) competition from peers for quality assets.

May 30, 2007 AIMSAMPIReit, MI-REIT No Comments »

Allco – ML

ALLCO, ml remains a BUY with target price $1.93

– Acquires 50% interest in Centrelink Property, Canberra . Allco Commercial REIT has announced the acquisition of a 50% interest in the Centrelink Property Canberra, Australia for a consideration of S$136.5mn. The office building will be completed in June 2007 and is being acquired jointly with Record Realty on an initial yield of 7.7%.


– Renounceable rights offer to existing shareholders . To finance the acquisition and pay down existing debt, Allco intends to raise S$210mn through a renounceable rights offering to existing shareholders. The rights issue price will be offered at a discount of between 15% and 35% to share price. The acquisition is yield accretive; however, together with the rights issue it will not have a material impact on FY07 DPU.


– Acquisition capacity now at S$1bn. Allco’s gearing post acquisition and rights issues will fall to approx. 23%. This is the lowest gearing level amongst the office exposed S-REITs and equates to an acquisition capacity of approximately S$1bn. We believe this enhances Allco’s ability to expand, and we would expect them to acquire again before year-end.


– Maintain BUY. We maintain our Buy rating on Allco and PO of S$1.93. We expect the share price to rally pre books closure date given the implied value of the rights. We continue to believe that Allco is the most undervalued of the Singapore office plays and remains a top pick within the Singapore REIT sector.

May 29, 2007 AllCo, FCOT No Comments »

ALLCO – Nomura

ALLCO – Nomura remains STRONG BUY with target price $1.61

– Allco has innovatively proposed a renounceable rights issue to facilitate the acquisition of a 50% stake in a Canberra office building. The deal lengthens Allco’s average lease term to 12.8 years. With cashflows underpinned, with think the deal is a precursor to more opportunistic deals in Asia. Our STRONG BUY call stands.

– Allco proposes yield-accretive deal, NAV raised to S$1.61 . Allco has proposed to acquire a 50% stake in a Canberra office building for S$136.5mn, with the deal to be funded via a proposed S$210mn renounceable rights issue. The targeted property is being acquired on a cash yield of 6.0%, with the property leased for 18 years to the Australian federal government agency Centrelink (unlisted). The acquisition will increase the weighted average lease term of the Allco portfolio from 5.4 years to 12.8 years. With the portfolio having a secure cashflow, we believe the deal will enable Allco to pursue more opportunistic acquisitions in Asia. We have analysed the deal and rights issue and believe it to be yield accretive by 5.6% in FY07F, 4.0% in FY08F and 3.8% in FY09F.

Note
1) As the deal has yet to be sealed, we have not incorporated it into our official forecasts, though our analysis is presented in Exhibit 1.
2) Our yield-accretion calculation is based on our estimated theoretical ex-rights price of S$1.24/unit (see Exhibit 2).


– Independent of the proposed acquisition and rights issue, we have raised our SOTP NAV (pre rights) to S$1.61/unit (from S$1.53/unit), on the basis of 1) higher valuations for its Singapore property assets, given recent transactions — we now value them at S$1,404/psf (versus S$1,361/psf previously), and higher translated valuations of the group’s interest in Central Park Perth, given the strength of the Australian dollar.

– Allco to acquire 50% stake in Canberra office for S$136.5mn. Allco has agreed to acquire a 50.0% indirect interest in “the Centrelink Property” for A$108.75mn (S$136.5mn). The property has a projected cash yield of 6%. (Note the reported initial yield of 7.7% and assumed income of A$5.2mn for FY07, and 7.4% yield and assumed income of A$10.1mn for FY08, are accounting yields, due to the long lease revenue being recorded on a straight-line basis). According to the Property Council of Australia, as at end 2006, Canberra had an office vacancy of only 1.8%, the lowest in 16 years. While vacancy is low, supply is on the rise, with an expected 260,000sm due for completion in 2007 and 40,000sm over 2008-09. While the supply/demand balance is expected to shift, the Centrelink Property is to be leased by an Australian Federal government entity, Centrelink, for an initial term of 18 years from 4 July, 2007, protecting Allco’s cashflow from near-term market fluctuations. The lease incorporates a 3% annual rental escalation for the initial 18-year term. The office building has been purpose designed for Centrelink. In addition, Centrelink has an option to renew its lease for two additional consecutive terms of five years each. The Centrelink Property has a land area of approximately 575,869sf (53,500sm) and forms part of the Tuggeranong town centre in Greenway, Canberra. It is located in the western section of the Tuggeranong Town Centre, immediately to the south of the Tuggeranong Office Park, approximately 25km south of the Canberra CBD. According to Allco, the Centrelink Property comprises a contemporary designed, five-storey (basement and four upper levels) commercial office building with an NLA of approximately 430,556sf (40,000sm) and 1,093 car parking bays. The property is due for completion in June 2007.

– Renounceable rights issue to raise S$210mn. Allco is proposing a renounceable underwritten rights issue of new units. It expects to raise gross proceeds of up to S$210.0mn. Allco intends to use S$138.6mn to finance the proposed acquisition in Canberra, and the rest to repay existing debt/partly refinance the existing portfolio. We expect FY07F debt to fall from our current forecast of 0.35x to 0.31x, giving opportunities for more leveraged acquisitions. We estimate the deal to be yield accretive, by 5.6% in FY07F, 4.0% in FY08F and 3.8% in FY09F. Note our yield accretion calculation is based on our estimated theoretical ex-rights price of S$1.24/unit, assuming the rights are issued at a 25% discount to the current share price (the manager has indicated a 15-35% discount) (see Exhibit 2).

– Looking to fund more growth; suggests more acquisitions. Within the circular, the manager is proposing to seek a general mandate for issuing of additional new units in 2007, provided that the number of new units does not exceed 50.0% of the number of units in issue as at 31 December, 2006. The general mandate would allow Allco REIT to issue an additional 247.7mn new units. Assuming these units were issued at a 15% discount to the current share price, Allco would be facilitating the raising of about S$280mn. Given the nature of the mandate sought, it suggests Allco is looking to make further acquisitions in the next six months.

May 29, 2007 AllCo, FCOT No Comments »