SINGAPORE (Jan 22): The manager of Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) announced a 3Q18/19 DPU of 3.07 cents, 6.6% higher compared to 2.88 cents in 3Q17/18.
Amount available for distribution was 9% higher at $58.3 million from $53.5 million a year ago.
Gross revenue for the quarter was 2.3% higher at $93.6 million from $91.5 million last year, largely due to contribution from Phase One of the build-to-suit (BTS) project for HP Singapore for a full quarter after the expiry of rent-free period as well as new contribution from Mapletree Sunview 1 and 30A Kallang Place
However, this was partially offset by lower occupancies in the trust’s flatted factories and stack-up/ramp-up buildings segments.
As property operating expenses increased by 5.3% y-o-y to $21.7 million, net profit income came in at $71.9 million, 1.4% higher than $70.9 million in the previous year.
Borrowing costs increased by 19.6% y-o-y to $10.1 million.
Share of profit in joint venture saw a significant increase this quarter to $4.02 million, compared to $0.73 million a year ago.
On the outlook, the manager will remain focused on tenant retention to maintain a stable portfolio occupancy.
Tham Kuo Wei, CEO of the manager, says, “We are pleased that our strategy of growing the Hi-Tech Buildings segment has yielded positive results. The year-on-year growths in distributable income and DPU were bolstered by the higher contributions from the development projects in Singapore and 40% interest in the portfolio of 14 data centres in the United States. These have helped to mitigate the headwinds we are experiencing in the Singapore industrial property market.”
Units in MIT closed 2 cents lower at $1.98 on Tuesday.
