Ascendas India Trust H2 DPU down 14% to S$0.036
ASCENDAS India Trust on Wednesday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.036 for the second half of the fiscal year 2021 ended December, down 14 per cent from a DPU of S$0.0419 in the corresponding year-ago period.
This brought the trust's DPU for the full FY2021 to S$0.078, some 11 per cent lower than DPU of S$0.0883 in FY2020.
Unitholders can expect to receive their H2 DPUs on Feb 25, with the record date set at 5 pm on Feb 17.
Income to be distributed for H2 slipped 14 per cent to S$41.6 million from S$48.2 million in the year-ago period.
Ascendas India Trust CY6U 's total property income for the period under review was up 5 per cent year on year to S$97.4 million from S$92.7 million. The trust attributed the increase primarily to income contributions from Anchor Annex building in Bangalore, which was completed in November 2020, and aVance 6 building in Hyderabad, acquired in March 2021.
These were, however, partially mitigated by lower portfolio occupancy, as well as lower utilities and carpark income amid low physical park population because of Covid-19 concerns during the year.
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Total property expenses for H2 inched up 3 per cent year on year to S$18.9 million from S$18.3 million, due to higher operation and maintenance expenses, as well as an allowance for expected credit loss in the period under review, versus a reversal of expected credit loss that the company booked in H2 FY2020.
Consequently, net property income was up 5 per cent to S$78.5 million from S$74.4 million.
Ascendas India Trust, which reports its financial figures in both rupee and Singapore dollar (SGD) terms, noted an approximate 3 per cent year-on-year appreciation of the SGD against the rupee.
As at end-2021, the trust had a committed portfolio occupancy of 87 per cent, with a weighted average lease expiry of 3.6 years.
Its portfolio valuation went up by 18 per cent to S$2.4 billion, on the back of new acquisitions, development and fair-value gains. Excluding new acquisitions in 2021, the value of existing properties grew by 9 per cent.
As at end-December last year, the trust's gearing ratio stood at 35 per cent on a loan-to-value basis, with "ample debt headroom" of S$960 million, as well as cash and undrawn committed facilities totalling S$254 million.
Sanjeev Dasgupta, chief executive of Ascendas India Trust's manager, said that there has been a gradual increase in physical occupancy in the trust's parks since India's second wave of the coronavirus, which peaked last June. He noted that some 11 per cent of the trust's park population were back to the office by the end of 2021.
"With the uncertainty due to the Omicron variant, we are monitoring and supporting our tenants' back-to-office arrangements, keeping their well-being and safety in our business parks as our key priority," he said.
Despite a "challenging leasing environment", he said some 2.8 million square feet (sq ft) of the trust's portfolio was leased or renewed in 2021 through active tenant-engagement efforts. The trust's portfolio rental reversion rate stood at 5.5 per cent, and office rental collections were at 98 per cent.
He added: "We are encouraged by the early signs of leasing interest and expect leasing momentum to pick up, based on ongoing tenant discussions.
"To strengthen portfolio resilience and enhance sustainable returns to our unitholders, we are actively undertaking asset enhancements and strategically diversifying to new-economy assets such as data centres and logistics/industrial facilities."
Units of Ascendas India Trust ended Wednesday at S$1.38 before the announcement of the results, up 1.5 per cent or S$0.02.
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