David Tuvia Goss, non-independent and non-executive director of United Hampshire US REIT (UHREIT), has increased his stake in the REIT.
On June 28, Goss acquired 250,000 units on the open market at 60.85 US cents (84.53 cents) each. This follows the acquisition of 250,000 units each on June 20 and June 22 at 61 US cents and 60.86 US cents each respectively. Goss now holds 750,000 units, equivalent to 0.134% of the REIT.
Since 1998, Goss has been the managing director of UOB Global Capital, joint owner of UHREIT’s manager with Hampshire US Holdco, which, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hampshire Companies. UOB Global Capital is the originator and distributor of private equity, hedge funds, fixed income and real estate products. It is a subsidiary of United Overseas Bank.
The joint venture partner, The Hampshire Companies, has over 60 years of experience in acquiring, developing, leasing, repositioning, managing, financing and divesting of real estate.
US portfolio of assets
UHREIT owns a portfolio of around two dozen grocery-anchored shopping centres and self-storage properties. These dominantly freehold properties are located along the US East Coast and cover a total net leasable area of 3.6 million square feet. As at March 31, the properties have a weighted average lease expiry of 7.8 years and committed occupancy of 96.4% as well as a portfolio valued at US$688.5 million.
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In 2HFY2021 ended December 2021, UHREIT’s net property income was US$21.5 million, up 8.7% y-o-y over US$19.8 million recorded in 2HFY2020.
On June 22, UHREIT announced that it had completed the divestment of two properties, the Elizabeth Self-Storage and Perth Amboy Self-Storage, for US$45.5 million. The net proceeds from the sale are around US$44.2 million after deducting transaction costs of around US$1.3 million.
According to UHREIT, the proceeds from the divestment will be redeployed to fund potential higher-yielding acquisition opportunities, finance capital expenditure, repay existing debts as well as other general corporate requirements.
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Separately, on June 9, UHREIT announced the planned acquisition of the Upland Square Shopping Centre for US$85.7 million. Upon completion of the acquisition, the REIT is set to enjoy a 2.13% uplift to its pro forma DPU to 6.23 US cents.
More buybacks
Property and hotel company OUE has been steadily buying back its own shares with buybacks an almost daily occurrence in May and June. As at June 29, a total of nearly 1.45 million shares have been bought back under the current mandate.
The most recent transaction was on June 29, when OUE acquired 20,000 shares at $1.30 each. Earlier on June 27 and 28, it had acquired 30,000 shares at $1.2872 each and 54,000 shares at $1.30 each respectively.
In 2HFY2021 ended December 2021, OUE reported earnings of $50.9 million, versus a loss of $136.2 million recorded in 2HFY2020, thanks to better showing at its healthcare and consumer businesses as well as lower writedowns on the fair value of its assets.
Revenue came in at $148.8 million, 35.1% lower y-o-y mainly due to extensive renovation works at its flagship Mandarin Orchard Singapore, which has been renamed Hilton Singapore Orchard.
Hilton Singapore Orchard is the largest Hilton-branded inn in Asia Pacific. The hotel has 1,080 rooms and suites, and more than 2,400 square metres of meeting and convention space, including 16 meeting rooms and two ballrooms that can fit up to 900 people.
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Singapore’s hospitality industry, hit by the pandemic, is seeing growing numbers of visitors with the reopening. Like most property companies, OUE trades at a significant discount to book value. As at Dec 31, 2021, its net asset value per share was $4.41, slightly higher than the $4.24 as at Dec 31, 2020.
