Lendlease Global Commercial REIT has announced a distribution per unit of 2.34 cents for 1HFY2021 ended Dec 30, versus 2.32 cents for the year earlier period.
LREIT holds two key assets: 313@Somerset mall in Singapore and Sky Complex office building in Italy.
Net property income was up 1.6% y-o-y to $30.4 million, while gross revenue was up 3.2% y-o-y to $41.6 million, as a stronger Euro helped translate rental income from Sky Complex into higher Singdollars. Improved operational efficiency at 313@Somerset, LREIT’s key asset, helped too.
LREIT’s portfolio occupancy remained high at 99.7% as at Dec 31 2020, with a long weighted average lease expiry of 9.3 years by net leasable area and 4.9 years by gross rental income. This current FY2021, 2% and 6% of the portfolio NLA and GRI will be up for renewal and review, respectively.
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LREIT sees further improvement on the ground. Q-o-q, tenant sales and footfall at 313@Somerset have recovered approximately 75% and 60%, respectively to pre-Covid-19 levels. Occupancy rate as at Dec 31 2020 improved to 98.7% from 95.6% in the last quarter.
Kelvin Chow, CEO of LREIT’s manager, is encouraged by the improving signs seen in Singapore’s retail sales and the moderation in the rate of economic contraction in fourth quarter 2020.
“While leasing may continue to remain challenging in the near term, we believe that 313@somerset, given its prime location, will continue to attract new prospects to showcase their brands in this youth-oriented mall,” he says.
