SINGAPORE (July 20): The manager of Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott REIT) has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.356 cents for 1H17 ended June, a 13% decrease from 3.88 cents last year.
Ascott Residence Trust Management says 1H17 DPU would have increased by 6% to 3.74 cents if the one-off items, the effects of rights issue and equity placement, as well as contribution from Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel for 1Q17 were excluded.
In March 2016, nearly 95 million new Ascott REIT units were issued in an equity placement to fund the acquisition of Sheraton Tribeca. The acquisition was completed in April 2016.
Revenue for 1H17 increased by 4% to $234.9 million mainly due to the additional revenue of $11.5 million from Ascott REIT’s acquisitions in 2016 and 2017. The increase was partially offset by the decrease in revenue of $1.5 million from the divestment of 18 rental housing properties in Tokyo.
Revenue from the existing properties remained at the same level as last year.
Unitholder’s distribution in 1H17 rose 15% to $72 million. This included a one-off realised exchange gain of $11.9 million arising from the repayment of foreign currency bank loans in 2Q17 while 1H16 distribution included a one-off net realised exchange gain of S$6.5 million arising from the repayment of foreign currency bank loans.
Bob Tan, chairman of Ascott Residence Trust Management, says, “Ascott REIT’s asset size will expand to $5.3 billion after we complete the acquisitions of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New York – Times Square South and Ascott Orchard Singapore, which are expected to take place in August 2017 and 4Q 2017 respectively.”
“We continue to maintain a balanced portfolio across various geographies to provide stable returns to unitholders. We remain on the lookout for accretive acquisitions in gateway cities in markets such as Australia, Japan, Europe and the US,” he adds.
Units in Ascott Residence Trust closed at $1.18 on Wednesday.
