Last November, MLT completed a fund-raising exercise, issuing 246.7 million units in a private placement at $2.027 each, and 72.4 million units in a preferential offering at $1.99 each. In addition, MLT issued 2.65 million units at $2.2027 per unit to its manager for acquisition fees, and 148 million units issued at $2.027 million to Mapletree Investments, to maintain a strong alignment of interests between sponsor and MLT. These units have been taken into consideration in MLT’s distributions in 3QFY2021 ended December 2020.
As the world careens into a second year where Covid-19 remains rampant, a stock portfolio that provides steady distributions and where components can benefit from late-stage Covid-19 developments such as logistics and cold supply chains, are likely to provide stability.
Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) is not the de facto cold chain play in the local market. REITs such as ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust have more of such assets as a portion of its portfolio. However, at a time when the quality of the manager and sponsor, and size of the portfolio take on greater significance following the problems at Lippo Mall Indonesia Retail Trust and First REIT, preservation of capital is key. MLT is likely to provide investors with both stable distributions and growth.
