SINGAPORE (Apr 27): The manager of Mapletree Industrial Trust (MINT) has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.85 cents for the 4QFY19/20 ended March, down 7.5% y-o-y. This brings the REIT’s full-year DPU to 12.24 cents, up 0.7% y-o-y, with growth coming from the 13 newly-acquired data centres in North America via a joint venture.
Amount distributable to unitholders grew 15.4% y-o-y to $69.2 million for 4QFY19/20. Tax-exempt income amounting to $6.6 million, equivalent to DPU of 0.30 cents, has been withheld in 4QFY19/20 for the Trust to have greater flexibility managing its cash in the current FY20/21, says Tham Kuo Wei, CEO of MINT's manager.
Gross revenue for the quarter saw a 3.0% increase to $101.8 million, from $98.8 million in the corresponding quarter last year, due to contributions from acquisitions and development projects.
Gross revenue for the year grew 7.9% to $405.9 million from last year’s $376.1 million, due to the higher contributions from 18 Tai Seng, 30A Kallang Place, 7 Tai Seng Drive and Mapletree Sunview 1.
Property operating expenses increased 2.5% to $23.5 million, compared to last year’s $22.9 million.
As a result, the net property income in 4Q19/20 increased by 3.2% to $78.3 million, from the corresponding quarter’s $75.9 million last year.
Net fair value gain on investment properties and investment property under development rose 65.2% to $50.8 million, from $30.8 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.
Share of joint venture more than tripled to $60.9 million, from the $13.2 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.
As at March 31 2020, the total valuation of 114 properties in MINT’s portfolio was $5.9 billion, up 23.6% from March 31 2019, as the trust added 13 data centres in North America.
Average portfolio occupancy for 4QFY19/20 increased to 91.5% from the preceding quarter’s 90.9% due to higher occupancies for the Singapore portfolio, which included the Hi-Tech Buildings, Business Park Buildings and Stack-up/Ramp-up Buildings segments.
The North American Portfolio occupancy improved from 97.8% in 3QFY19/20 to 98.7% in 4QFY19/20 due to the addition of the 10 powered shell data centres held under Mapletree Rosewood Data Centre Trust, which were 100% leased.
The weighted average lease to expiry (WALE) for the Trust’s overall portfolio increased from 3.9 years as at 31 December 2019 to 4.2 years as at 31 March 2020.
As at end March, cash and cash equivalents stood at $53.4 million.
MINT will be supporting its Singapore tenants with a Covid-19 Assistance and Relief Programme of up to $13.7 million. This is in addition to the $10.5 million property tax rebates of 100% and 30% for qualifying commercial premises and non-residential properties respectively, which will be fully passed on to all tenants in MINT’s properties in Singapore.
Looking ahead, the Trust’s properties in Singapore and North America will remain open during the Covid-19 pandemic to support tenants in essential services who continue to be operational during this period. MINT’s large diversified tenant base with low dependence on any single tenant or trade sector will continue to underpin its portfolio resilience.
“We have also rolled out our Covid-19 Assistance and Relief Programme to support our tenants, with priority given to small and medium-sized enterprise tenants, who have been affected by supply chain disruptions and fall in business volume as a result of the pandemic,” says Tham.
Unitholders can expect to receive their quarterly DPU on June 4.
Units in Mapletree Industrial Trust closed 6 cents higher, or 2.5% up, at $2.44 on Monday.
