First Reit Q4 DPU unchanged at S$0.0066

HEALTHCARE-FOCUSED First Reit on Monday (Feb 13) posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0066 for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2022, unchanged from a year ago.

The quarterly DPU of S$0.0066 has been unchanged since the fourth quarter of 2021. Books close on Feb 22 and payment will be made on Mar 30.

Meanwhile, DPU for the six months ended Dec 31, 2022 stood at S$0.0132, up from S$0.0131 in the corresponding year-ago period.

Rental and other income fell 9.3 per cent during the six-month period to S$57.5 million. Net property and other income (NPI) was 10.8 per cent lower than a year ago, at S$55.8 million.

First Reit : AW9U 0%’s manager attributed the decrease mainly to the FY2021 straight-lining adjustments of S$22.7 million recognised in the second half of 2021.

Distributable amount for the six-month period rose 27.8 per cent to S$27.2 million.

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For the full year, rental and other income grew 8.7 per cent to S$111.3 million after contributions from the 14 newly acquired Japan properties, and stable rental income from the Indonesia properties following the restructuring of master lease agreements.

This drove an 8.3 per cent rise in NPI to S$108.6 million, despite an increase in operating expenses from the new Japan properties.

First Reit’s manager said it will focus on diversifying into developed markets, which will comprise more than 50 per cent of the portfolio by 2027.

It aims to reshape the portfolio for capital-efficient growth through the divestment of non-core, non-healthcare, or mature assets.

The developed markets portfolio has increased to 25.1 per cent of assets under management. Following the acquisition of the Japan nursing homes and the divestment of Siloam Hospitals Surabaya in September, First Reit’s portfolio now comprises 32 properties.

It has 14 in Japan, 15 in Indonesia and three in Singapore, with a total valuation of S$1.15 billion – a 19 per cent increase over the carrying value of S$962.4 million as at end-December.

Gearing stood at 38.5 per cent as of end-December, with interest coverage ratio of 5 times.

The manager said debt refinancing is not needed until 2025, following an early refinancing in Q4 of an outstanding debt that represented 51.1 per cent of total debt as at end-December.

First Reit has also pegged 59.6 per cent of its debt on fixed rates, and entered into non-deliverable forward contracts and call spreads to hedge net cashflow from Indonesia.

The counter ended flat at S$0.275 on Monday.