Ascott Reit DPU rises 5% to 1.91 S cents for Q3

Published Wed, Oct 30, 2019 · 12:26 AM

ASCOTT Residence Trust's (Ascott Reit) third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) rose 5 per cent to 1.91 Singapore cents versus 1.82 cents a year ago.

Excluding the divestment of Ascott Raffles Place Singapore, DPU for the quarter ended Sept 30 would have been 1.73 cents compared with 1.72 cents.

Ascott Reit units closed up S$0.02 or 1.4 per cent to S$1.42 on Tuesday.

The hospitality trust's net income before changes in fair value was S$46.2 million, a slight rise from S$46.1 million last year.

Distribution to unitholders, which includes a one-off partial distribution from the Raffles Place divestment, grew 6 per cent to S$41.6 million from S$39.4 million.

Revenue slipped 2 per cent to S$132.4 million from S$134.5 million mainly due to a S$2.3 million revenue decrease from the Raffles Place divestment.

Gross profit edged up 1 per cent to S$65 million from S$64.2 million, while revenue per available unit declined 2 per cent to S$155 per day mainly due to weaker exchange rates in Q3 2019.

The proposed combination of Ascott Reit and Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTrust), first announced in July, is expected to complete by the end of 2019.

The new Ascott Reit-Business Trust stapled units under the combined entity will begin trading on the Singapore Exchange on Jan 2, 2020.

Beh Siew Kim, CEO of Ascott Reit's manager Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited, said: "With a debt headroom of about S$1.1 billion, we have the capacity to pursue yield-accretive acquisitions, development and conversion projects.

"Post-combination, we will continue to have the mandate to acquire lodging assets in any part of the world. Besides Asia-Pacific, we will also keep a lookout for quality assets in Europe and the US.

"lyf one-north Singapore, our maiden development project and co-living property, is on track to open in 2021. Post-completion of Ascott Reit's combination with A-HTrust, we will review the combined portfolio to assess opportunities for asset enhancements to maximise returns."