SINGAPORE (May 11): The managers of Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTrust) have declared a record high full-year distribution per stapled security (DPS) of 5.68 cents for FY16/17, up 5% from its FY15/16 DPS of 5.41 cents a year ago.
For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the trust’s DPS came in at 1.37 cents, representing a 5.4% increase from 1.3 cents in the previous year.
Excluding proceeds from the divestment from the sale of Pullman Cairns International, DPS for 4Q FY15/16 would have been 1.25 cents such that 4Q FY16/17 DPS would be 9.6% higher on-year.
Gross revenue for the quarter grew 7.5% to $57.4 million from $53.4 million due to overall improvement in underlying performance of the portfolio, and augmented by the appreciation of the Japanese yen, and the Australian dollar, against the Singapore dollar.
Correspondingly, net property income NPI for 4Q FY16/17 also improved by 10.1% y-o-y to $25.8 million.
In Australia, A-HTrust’s portfolio of hotels under management agreements posted a quarter of strong performance with an improvement compared to the same quarter last year, with average occupancy rate up 3.9 percentage points at 87.7% and RevPAR growing 6% to A$159.
This was mainly driven by Pullman Sydney Hyde Park, Novotel Sydney Central (NSC), and Pullman and Mercure Brisbane King George Square, say the managers in a Thursday release.
The China portfolio of hotel under management agreements benefitted from favourable market conditions to drive the trust’s performance during the quarter, while Ibis Beijing Sanyuan continued to see strong take-up rate from the members of China Lodging Group’s loyalty programme.
Average occupancy rate for China increased by 2.1 percentage points to 76.1%, with RevPAR up by 0.7% to RMB296.
For hotels under master leases, the trust’s Japan portfolio saw y-o-y improvement due to higher contribution from Hotel Sunroute Osaka Namba, although Park Hotel Clarke Quay in Singapore saw subdued performance during the quarter due to the competitive hotel market, compounded by weaker corporate demand.
As at March 31, portfolio valuation increased by 6.5% to $1.6 billion. Save for the Singapore portfolio, the other portfolios posted growth in valuation.
Save for the Singapore portfolio, the other portfolios posted growth in valuation.
“In the coming financial year, all the rooms in Hotel Sunroute Ariake will be refurbished to refresh the product offering, while some of the rooms in Pullman Hyde Park will also be renovated as the hotel seeks to capture higher yielding segments. The renovation of Mercure rooms in Pullman and Mercure Brisbane King George Square, which is currently ongoing, is expected to be completed by end of 2017,” says Tan Juay Hiang, CEO of the managers.
“Moving into FY17/18, we will build on this years’ performance as we remain committed to deliver long term sustainable return to the stapled security holders,” he adds.
Units of A-HTrust closed 0.63% lower at 78 cents on Thursday.
