SINGAPORE (Feb 1): The manager of Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTRUST) announced DPS of 1.41 cents for 3Q17/18, down 14% compared to the DPS of 1.64 cents in 3Q16/17.
Gross revenue for 3Q17/18 came in at $58.1 million, 1.8% lower than $59.2 million last year, due to weaker performance of the REIT’s Australia portfolio. This was further exacerbated by the weakening of JPY, RMB and AUD against SGD.
Revenue from the REIT’s Australia hotels dropped 2.1% to $41.1 million, due to lower contribution from the conferences and events (C&E) business for the quarter and weakening of AUD against SGD.
Revenue from China hotels came in flat at $5.3 million compared to the same period last year.
Revenue from Japan hotels were 4.7% lower than the previous year at $8.3 million
Revenue from Singapore hotels however showed an increase of 7.7% to $3.4 million.
Property expenses were 0.5% higher at $32.9 million compared to $32.7 million a year ago, mainly due to a 44.7% increase in services and other taxes that amounted to $1.73 million.
Hence, net property income for the period stood at $25.2 million, 4.7% lower than $26.4 million recorded in the previous year.
During 3Q17/18, the REIT recorded foreign exchange losses of $34.6 million, compared to losses of $1.7 million a year ago.
Other REIT expenses also quadrupled to $1.79 million from $0.47 million last year.
The REIT also recorded a net loss in fair value of derivative financial instruments of $0.38 million, compared to a gain of $9.01 million a year ago.
Income available for distribution was lower by 13.7% y-o-y at $16 million from $18.5 million due to the lower NPI, higher trust expense, absence of one-off gain and higher amount of income retained.
Tan Juay Hiang, CEO of the manager says, “While some of the hotels in the Australia portfolio currently face a competitive landscape, we are confident in the overall quality of the Australia portfolio and are optimistic that it remains well positioned for the long run.”
“With the intention to expand into markets beyond Asia Pacific, there will be more opportunities available and we will continue to actively seek acquisitions that can further benefit A-HTRUST and our Stapled Security holders,” adds Tan.
Units in A-HTRUST closed at 90 cents on Thursday.
