As Guha describes it, the 2.6% y-o-y and 3.2% y-o-y rise in revenue and net property income (NPI) in 4QFY2024 ended March were underpinned by the Singapore portfolio which performed well. “This, along with forex gains and contribution from the Korean asset, more than offset higher borrowing cost, resulting in 1.8% growth in distribution,” Guha says in his report.
Analysts are mixed on the outlook and recommendations for the Mapletree REITs given the challenging operating environment. Krishna Guha, investment analyst at Maybank Research, is cautious and has “hold” recommendations on all three REITs — Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (SGX:N2IU
) (MPACT), Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX:ME8U) (MIT) and Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX:M44U) (MLT). JP Morgan’s analysts, Terence Khi and Mervin Song, also sound relatively cautious with a “neutral” recommendation on MIT but an “overweight” recommendation for MPACT.
For MPACT, top-line growth was led by better Singapore performance and margins. This was partly offset by higher borrowing costs and continued weakness in the overseas portfolio. Singapore achieved robust rental reversion but not the overseas properties. Meanwhile, funding costs inched up.
