SINGAPORE (Jan 22): The trustee-manager of Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.93 cent for the 4Q ended Dec 2017, unchanged from a year ago and bringing total DPU for FY17 to 3.72 cents.
Group revenue for the quarter grew 3.9% to $158.1 million from $152.2 million in 4Q16, mainly due to higher revenue from City Gas and Basslink, offset in part by lower revenue contributions from, the concessions, CityNet and Keppel Merlimau Cogen (KMC).
The concessions, comprising Senoko WTE, Tuas WTE, SingSpring Desalination and Ulu Pandan NEWater plants, saw quarterly revenue fall to $23.8 million compared to $24.7 million a year ago due to the absence of construction revenue recognised from the Senoko boiler upgrade, which completed in 3Q16.
Revenue for KMC over the quarter was marginally lower at $32.5 million, while CityNet’s total FY17 revenue was lower at $1.2 million, $2.9 million lower than that of FY16 due to cessation as trustee-manager of Netlink Trust with effect from April 13 2017.
At City Gas, higher revenue of $81.2 million was recorded due to higher town gas tariff, while 100% plant availability was achieved during 4Q.
Basslink’s revenue for 4Q grew 10.1% on-year to A$19.6 million (approximately $20.6 million) as it recorded a lower negative commercial risk sharing mechanism (CRSM) as compared to a year ago.
As a result of the higher contributions from City Gas over the latest quarter, profit attributable to unitholders for 4Q17 grew 25.4% higher from a year ago.
The higher profit attributable to unitholders for the full year compared to FY16 mainly arose from higher contributions from both Basslink and City Gas, and partially offset by abortive expenses incurred from a potential acquisition, professional fees in relation to the Basslink outage, and lower contributions from CityNet.
In its outlook, KIT’s trustee-manager says longer-than-anticipated outages which may cause the availabilities of the plants to fall below their respective contractive levels, may lead to the absence of full payments due or even lead to the possible termination of contracts.
City Gas’ performance could fluctuate depending on changes in economic conditions and time lag in the adjustments of gas tariffs in response to changes in fuel costs, while CRSM in Basslink may fluctuate in the short-term and affect the company’s revenues, it adds.
The trustee-manager says it will continue to evaluate asset enhancement opportunities in its portfolio, and will continue to identify and evaluate suitable acquisitions, including those from the Sponsor, under its investment mandate to further grow KIT.
Units in KIT closed 0.9% higher at 58 cents on Monday.
