Ascott Reit posts DPU of 2.11 cents for Q3

ASCOTT Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) reported on Thursday a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.11 cents for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014.

That is down 11 per cent compared to the DPU of 2.37 cents for Q3 FY2013, which included one-off items of about S$1.5 million. However, if the one-off items and Ascott Reit's rights issue on December 2013 were to be excluded, the DPU would have risen 15 per cent compared to the adjusted DPU of 1.84 cents a year ago.

Unitholders' distribution for the third quarter grew 8 per cent to S$32.3 million compared to a year ago. Revenue rose 9 per cent to S$93.7 million due to the additional income of S$8.5 million from new properties acquired in 2014, and stronger contribution from existing properties.

The group achieved a revenue per available unit of S$128 for Q3, a decrease of 4 per cent as compared to a year ago. This was mainly due to weaker performance from Singapore and Vietnam properties and lower average daily rate from the China properties acquired in August 2014.

The group, which made its maiden issuance of S$150 million perpetual securities in October 2014, said it continues to actively seek accretive acquisitions in key cities of Asia Pacific and Europe.

"We are actively exploring refinancing borrowings due in FY 2015,'' it said, adding that its manager remains vigilant to changes in the macro and credit environment that may impact the group's financing plans.

"Notwithstanding uncertainty in the global economic recovery due to geopolitical risks and concerns in certain markets, we expect the general hospitality business to remain healthy globally in 2014 and our portfolio to remain resilient and the Group's operating performance for FY 2014 to remain profitable,'' it said.