Centurion Accommodation Reit’s Q1 NPI of S$37.5 million exceeds expectations

[SINGAPORE] The manager of on Tuesday (May 5) posted net property income of S$37.5 million for the first quarter ended Mar 31.

This is up 2.4 per cent from its prospectus forecast of S$36.6 million, according to the bourse filing.

Revenue stood at S$52.5 million for the period, 2.7 per cent higher than the projected S$51.1 million.

The better-than-expected results came on the back of higher occupancy and rental rates, as well as stronger currencies such as the British pound and the Australian dollar against the Singapore dollar, partially offset by higher property operating expenses.

CAReit debuted on the Singapore Exchange on Sep 25, 2025, at an IPO price of S$0.88 per unit. Its offering of 262.2 million units was 16.6 times oversubscribed, with sponsor Centurion Holdings holding 787.4 million units after the listing.

The business update noted that purpose-built worker accommodation (PBWA) in Singapore registered an occupancy of 94 per cent. It exceeded the expectation of 93.1 per cent.

“This outperformance was driven by higher occupancy, supported by stronger leasing across existing assets and encouraging demand for the newly added bed capacity in Westlite Toh Guan and Westlite Mandai,” it said.

The group said that in March, Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (Feda) licences were obtained for the 664 retained beds under the Toh Guan Expanded Capacity and the 3,696-bed Westlite Mandai new block.

“This follows the Feda licence received in December 2025 for the 1,764-bed new block at Westlite Toh Guan. These beds are being progressively leased up and are expected to provide further income contribution over the financial year,” it said.

SEE ALSO

Centurion Accommodation Reit posts DPU of S$0.01739 in first results since IPO

Meanwhile, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) assets in the UK and Australia registered occupancy levels of 99 per cent and 97.5 per cent, respectively.

As at Mar 31, aggregate leverage rose to 31 per cent, mainly due to the drawdown of S$140 million and A$145 million (S$138.8 million) in loans in January 2026 to fund the acquisition of Epiisod Macquarie Park.

The group’s weighted average debt maturity was at 3.9 years.

Epiisod Macquarie Park is a newly developed 732-bed PBSA asset located in Sydney, Australia, acquired on Jan 13 for A$345 million and fully financed through committed debt facilities. CAReit’s portfolio valuation increased by 16.5 per cent to S$2.2 billion after the deal.

The Reit’s weighted average financing cost stood at around 3.6 per cent, with 71.7 per cent of total borrowings hedged to fixed rates, up from 55.8 per cent as at Dec 31, 2025. Interest coverage ratio was at 6.02 times, with a debt headroom of S$340.8 million.

Looking ahead, the Reit’s accommodation portfolio remains anchored by favourable structural fundamentals across its core markets, said its manager.

Tony Bin, CEO of the manager, said: “We are encouraged by the quarter’s steady performance, driven by strong occupancy across our portfolio, with results exceeding our initial public offering projections for the second consecutive reporting period.”

The statement added that strong foreign labour demand and limited supply continue to support the PBWA portfolio in Singapore, while robust higher education demand in the UK and Australia underpins growth in the PBSA portfolio.

Units of CAReit ended S$0.01 or 0.9 per cent down at S$1.10 before the release of results.