DAIWA House Logistics Trust posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0261 for the half-year period from Jul 1 to Dec 31, 2022, to be paid on or around Mar 30, 2023.

This was in line with what was forecast on a pro-rated basis, said its manager on Thursday (Feb 23), despite gross revenue and net property income missing expectations due to currency effects.

Gross revenue for H2 came in 11.8 per cent lower than forecast at S$29.8 million, while net property income (NPI) missed expectations by 12.8 per cent at S$23 million.

Both were impacted by a weaker Japanese yen against the Singapore dollar (SGD), though partially offset by lower property expenses upon translation to SGD terms.

These were, however, offset by lower finance expenses, management fees and trust expenses, and a realised exchange gain from the settlement of hedges.

Notwithstanding the currency differences, the manager said higher returns of capital from the trust’s Japan entities – as well as the lower issue cost defrayed by a government grant received in H2 – helped to bring distributable income in SGD terms to meet the forecasted S$17.7 million.

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Over the financial period from the trust’s listing date from Nov 26, 2021 to Dec 31, 2022, DPU was in line with what was forecasted at S$0.057.

Its manager highlighted Daiwa House Logistics Trust’s strong performance from an operational perspective over the period, as all expired leases were successfully renewed.

The occupancy rate as at end-2022 was maintained at 98.6 per cent, with an average rent increase of 3 per cent for leases that were entered into or renewed during the period.

In the manager’s view, the resilience of Daiwa House Logistics Trusts’ portfolio, underpinned by the quality of its properties with long weighted average lease expiries, can mitigate the impact of challenges posed by the macro-environment.

The manager said it remains cautiously optimistic on the immediate outlook of the logistics sector in Japan, and believes demand for logistics facilities continues to be generally well-supported by third-party logistics and e-commerce sectors in the near term.

Units of Daiwa House Logistics Trust : DHLU 0% were up by S$0.005 or 0.8 per cent at S$0.62 as at 9.06 am on Thursday, after the announcement.