Six out of 13 S-Reits miss Citi's Q2 forecasts

Singapore

"GOOD news was in relative short supply" for the second quarter in the S-Reits universe, Citi analysts said in a report following the closure of the latest earnings reporting season.

The number of "misses" by S-Reits against forecasts remained elevated at close to half - six out of 13 - of Citi's S-Reits coverage for the fourth straight quarter, with only one Reit - Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) - beating the analysts' forecast. The other six were in line with expectations. Behind the misses was operational weakness that weighed down the top-line, said Citi's Friday report.

"It was not even a situation of the much-feared interest rate hike putting a dent on dividends - in fact, the average cost of financing in our coverage universe fell quarter-on-quarter, from 2.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent, as the Singapore swap offer rate (SOR) normalised in the Q2 - it was that the top line, and the forward direct…