Frasers Commercial Trust Q2 DPU rises 0.06 cents to 2.51 cents

THE manager of Frasers Commercial Trust reported a rise in distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.06 Singapore cents to 2.51 cents for the second quarter of financial year 2017, when compared to a year ago.

No management fees were taken in units for the quarter by the manager, it said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Friday morning before the opening of the market. Some 799.1 million units were calculated this quarter.

In Q2 FY16, 40 per cent of the management fees for the quarter were taken in units. For this quarter, 788.9 million were calculated.

The trust's distributable income to unitholders rose 3.5 per cent to S$20 million. Gross revenue rose by 3.2 per cent to S$40.2 million. Net property income was up 4.1 per cent to S$30 million.

These were due to overall stronger results from the Australian portfolio coupled with the stronger Australian dollar. However, lower occupancy rates were seen at China Square Central and Alexandra Technopark.

The entire portfolio reported a 91.8 per cent occupancy rate as at March 31. The overall rate was 89 per cent for the Singapore portfolio and 95.3 per cent for the Australian portfolio.

The manager will be applying the distribution reinvestment plan (DRP) for for Q2 FY17, it said. "The DRP provides unitholders with the option to receive their distributions declared either in the form of units or cash, or a combination of both."

The distribution of 2.51 cents per unit for Q2 FY17 will be paid out on May 30. The distribution books closure date is May 2.

The trust's counter was down one cent to S$1.325 at Thursday's close.