Ascott Residence Trust Q1 RevPAU up 10% on quarter to S$55

ASCOTT Residence Trust (ART) posted a 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase to S$55 for its revenue per available unit (RevPAU) of its properties under management contracts and management contracts with minimum guaranteed income, excluding rental housing and student accommodation properties.

In an update for the quarter, the managers noted an increase in average portfolio occupancy from mid-40 per cent in Q4 2020 to about 50 per cent in Q1 2021, which was supported by block bookings.

However, its RevPAU was 47 per cent lower compared to last year.

ART also saw a varied pace of recovery across markets, with China leading in Q1 2021 RevPAU year on year on a same-store basis. Countries with long stays like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam were more resilient with smaller RevPAU declines year on year.

Distributable income was boosted by a termination fee of S$9.8 million from the terminated divestments of Citadines Xinghai Suzhou and Citadines Zhuankou Wuhan, and a one-off realised exchange gain of S$5.6 million.

The trust's longer-stay properties such as rental housing and student accommodation had registered occupancies of over 95 per cent, while its master leases, management contracts with minimum guaranteed income and longer-stay properties contributed over three quarters of gross profit in Q1 2021.

ART said that its stable income sources provided downside protection and resilience against the impact of Covid-19.

With about 88 per cent of its properties in operation, its portfolio also continued to generate operating profits and positive cash flow. Six out of 10 properties which were temporarily closed continued to receive fixed rent, while temporarily closed properties are set to reopen progressively in Q2.

The trust also posted "strong capital management" with a net asset value per unit of S$1.15 and with 51 per cent of its total assets in foreign currency hedged.

As at March 31, 2021, ART recorded a gearing level of 36.1 per cent with about S$1.9 billion debt headroom, and about S$1.2 billion total available funds in its reserves.

Despite the challenging near-term outlook, ART noted that it is "well-positioned to capture the upturn" with its "scale, diversification, predominantly extended-stay portfolio and strong financial capacity and flexibility."

ART's stapled securities closed at S$1.07 on Thursday, up 0.9 per cent or S$0.01.