Accordia Golf Trust DPU from Aug 1-Dec 31 is 9.6% below forecast

IN its maiden earnings release since its initial public offering, Accordia Golf Trust (AGT) posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.91 Singapore cents for the period from Aug 1 to Dec 31, 2014.

This was 9.6 per cent lower than its forecast of 4.32 Singapore cents due to the weakening Japanese yen, even though its distributable income of 3.9 billion yen (S$44 million) exceeded its forecast by one per cent.

But the better-than-expected distributable income was buoyed by an increase in non-recurring cash flows. Operating profit of 5.2 billion yen was 3.6 per cent below forecast.

AGT's initial portfolio comprises 89 golf courses (including golf course-related assets) located across Japan.

The trust-manager noted that the golf market in Japan is improving as the general market outlook has been recovering due to "Abenomics" and also because the weakening yen has promoted inbound tourism in the country.

"With the strong demand from the senior golf players and the increase in foreign tourists, we hope to capture the increase in demand for golf in the mid to long term," said Yoshihiko Machida, CEO of the trustee-manager. "We remain optimistic that AGT will be able to deliver stable long-term returns to our unitholders."

AGT's first distribution is for the period from its listing date of Aug 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 and will be paid by the trustee-manager on or before end-June.