Ascott Reit reports DPU of 2.07 S'pore cents for Q4 2015, down 4%

ASCOTT Residence Trust posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.07 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 2.16 cents in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

However, stripping out one-off items amounting to about S$6.1 million in Q4 2014, the adjusted DPU for Q4 2014 would have been 1.76 cents, or 18 per cent lower than the DPU for Q4 2015.

Revenue rose 26 per cent to S$119.17 million due largely to additional revenue of S$21.9 million from properties acquired in Q3 2015.

In line with higher revenue, gross profit increased 24 per cent year on year to S$56.79 million, while unitholders' distribution slipped 3 per cent to S$32.06 million as the corresponding quarter in 2014 included one-off items.

For the full year, DPU came to 7.99 cents, down from 8.2 cents in the year prior.

Lim Jit Poh, Ascott Residence Trust Management (ARTML) chairman, said: "Ascott Reit is on track to achieve its target of S$6 billion by 2017. It is currently the largest hospitality REIT in Singapore with an asset size of S$4.7 billion, and it will grow to S$5.1 billion when its acquisition of the Cairnhill development is completed, which is expected to be in 2017. We will continue to actively seek accretive acquisitions in key cities of markets such as Australia, Japan, Europe and the United States of America."