Dasin Retail Trust Q1 revenue up 87.4% despite Covid-19 impact

DASIN Retail Trust's revenue for its full portfolio for the first fiscal quarter of 2021 ended March rose 87.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the trustee-manager said in a business update on Monday.

The trust's topline figure is based on revenue in yuan, and excluded rental income recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Revenue from four of the trust's retail malls - namely Shiqi Metro Mall, Xiaolan Metro Mall, Ocean Metro Mall and Dasin E-Colour - had also recovered to 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in Q1 FY2021.

This, however, excludes Doumen Metro Mall, which was acquired on Sept 12, 2019, and Shunde Metro Mall and Tanbei Metro Mall, which were acquired on July 8, 2020.

The trustee-manager also reported that China's total retail sales of consumer goods for Q1 was up by 33.9 per cent year on year. This was the country's first positive growth since August 2020, as consumer sentiment has been slowly restored despite continued uncertainties from the pandemic.

Dasin Retail Trust's portfolio comprises seven retail malls located within Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, with a total gross floor area (GFA) of 794,017 sq m and a total portfolio valuation of 11.6 billion yuan (S$2.44 billion).

As of March, no single property contributed more than 24 per cent of revenue, and each trade sector accounted for less than 23 per cent of gross rental income.

Its gearing stood at 37.2 per cent, with the weighted average term to maturity being 4.4 years for onshore debt and 0.7 years for offshore debt.

The trustee-manager said it is in active negotiations with the banks to complete the extension of the loan relating to the initial portfolio and Shiqi Metro Mall, which is due on July 18.

As far as the trust's right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) pipeline goes, it has completed nine properties and has six properties under development. If all the completed ROFR projects were to be included, the trust's total GFA will increase from 794,000 sq m to 1,477,000 sq m.

In its outlook statement, Dasin Retail Trust said its existing lease structures are highly resistant and that it will continue to look at optimising its tenant mix and foster amicable relationship with its tenants.

The trustee-manager added that it has a healthy financial position and strong operational capabilities, and also has strict cost controls and risk management strategies in place.

In addition, it noted that the Greater Bay Area is attracting global investors to increase their investments in the region, with the promise of further opening-up and the improvement of its business environment.

With a growing number of foreign companies beginning to set up research and development and innovation centres there, the trustee-manager believes the area "well-placed to emerge as the world's largest bay-area economy".

Units in Dasin Retail Trust closed at 71.5 Singapore cents on Monday, down 1.4 per cent or S$0.01.