Digital Core Reit reports lower-than-expected H1 DPU of 2.06 US cents

THE manager of Digital Core Reit (DC Reit) on Thursday (Jul 28) reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of US$0.0206 for the first half of 2022, a performance that slightly missed the mark.

The pure-play data centre real estate investment trust (Reit) made its trading debut on the Singapore Exchange on Dec 6, 2021, and at the time, it had forecasted a DPU of US$0.0209 for the half year ended Jun 30, according to its interim financial statements.

Together with a DPU of US$0.0031 for the stub period Dec 6-31, 2021, a total DPU of US$0.0237 will be paid to unitholders on Sep 28, the manager said.

Gross revenue was 0.3 per cent lower than expected at US$52.8 million, but net property income turned out to be 5.9 per cent higher than projected at US$35.4 million, due to lower-than-expected property expenses.

The manager noted that despite higher-than-expected net property income, profit attributable to non-controlling interests came in lower than expected, whereas profit attributable to unitholders was higher than the forecast level.

After adjusting for distribution adjustments, distributable income came in 2.2 per cent lower than the forecast figure at US$23.2 million.

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Although global growth is expected to slow, the manager said increased investments in digital infrastructure and the adoption of new technologies bode well for the digital economy and the growth of data centres.

It added that DC Reit is well-positioned to benefit from positive industry trends, given its operational expertise and industry network.

DC Reit owns a diversified portfolio of 10 income-producing facilities in core data centre markets across the United States and Canada, and these are 100 per cent leased as at Jun 30, with a weighted average lease expiration of about 5.2 years, the manager said.

In April, DC Reit entered into floating-to-fixed interest rate swaps to hedge a portion of its floating rate exposure, resulting in half its total interest rate exposure now hedged.

DC Reit units closed flat at US$0.825 on Thursday.