SINGAPORE (Jan 26): The manager of Viva Industrial Trust (VIT) has posted a 4Q17 distribution per share (DPS) of 1.857 cents, up 5.5% from 1.760 cents in 4Q16.
Gross revenue for the quarter grew 10.8% to $28.3 million in 4Q17 from $25.6 million a year ago, mainly due to additional rental contributions from 6 Chin Bee Avenue, which was acquired on 16 Jan last year, as well as higher rental and other income contributions from Viva Business Park and UE BizHub EAST (UEBH).
Net property income (NPI) registered a 14.3% increase over 4Q to $20.7 million from $18.1 million a year ago.
As such, distributions declared grew 13.4% y-o-y to $18.1 million despite an increase in the number of issued stapled securities.
For FY17, VIT booked a DPS of 7.472 cents, representing a 7.4% improvement from 6.958 cents in FY16.
Distribution yield compressed to 8.0% as compared with distribution yield of 9.2% for FY16.
Against the backdrop of a soft industrial leasing market weighed down by significant supply coming onstream this past year, the manager says it has managed to renew a total of 305,000 sqft of existing leases while securing 113,000 sqft of new leases, with an overall portfolio rental reversion of 2.6% for FY2017.
It also highlights Viva Business Park’s (VBP) “white” space committed occupancy at 97.2% as at 31 Dec 2017 post its asset enhancement initiative (AEI), with spill-over effects to the business park resulting in an overall 3% positive rental reversion at the property for FY17.
“In 2017, we have delivered strong returns to our unitholders with investors recognising good value in VIT. Challenges remain in the industrial REITs market, with active management, deep relationships and portfolio scale being the key differentiators amongst industrial S-REITs’ performance,” comments Wilson Ang, CEO of the manager.
“We strive to continue pressing ahead to outperform expectations, with the view to further crystallising value for our unitholders,” he adds.
Units in VIT closed flat at 94 cents on Thursday.
