Sasseur REIT has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.822 cents in the 1QFY2022 ended March, 3.58% higher than the DPU of 1.759 cents in the same period the year before.
The DPU comes after the retention of $2.5 million or 10% of its distributable income for working capital purposes. If not, DPU would’ve stood 3.5% higher y-o-y at 2.024 cents.
According to the REIT manager, the quarter’s DPU is the highest for the 1Q period since the REIT’s listing.
The REIT’s distributable income of $24.7 million, which was up by 4.7% y-o-y, was another record high.
During the quarter, total Entrusted Management Agreement (EMA) income inched by up 0.7% y-o-y to RMB158.5 million ($32.7 million), cushioned by the higher fixed component of EMA rental income in the EMA model.
In SGD terms, total EMA increased by 4.7% y-o-y to $33.8 million in line with the RMB appreciation against the SGD.
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Total outlet sales fell 3.55% y-o-y to RMB1.1 billion ($226.3 million) in the 1QFY2022 due to weaker buying sentiments after a new wave of Covid-19 cases in early March.
As at end-March, the REIT’s average portfolio occupancy stood 1 percentage point higher q-o-q at 95.4% with a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 2.6 years by net lettable area (NLA).
The completion of the asset enhancement initiatives (AEI) at its Chongqing Bishan outlet has also seen improved occupancy of 85.7% for the outlet in the 1QFY2022.
Its aggregate leverage stood at 26.2% with a weighted average cost of debt of 4.4% per annum. The REIT’s interest coverage ratio stood at 5.1x as at end-March.
The REIT’s net asset value (NAV) per unit stood at 99.22 cents as at end-March.
Looking ahead, the REIT manager has laid out plans for its next growth phase. This includes attracting shoppers through digitalisation and proactive asset management strategies, seeking opportunities to consolidate higher ownership of its Sasseur Hefei outlets, as well as sharpening the appeal of its outlets to take advantage of the strong domestic consumption.
In addition, the REIT manager is looking to acquire its sponsor’s right of first refusal (ROFR) and, or pipeline properties moving forward.
Unitholders will receive their distributions on June 28.
Units in Sasseur REIT closed 1 cent lower or 1.23% down at 80.5 cents
