IN A business update provided via a bourse filing on Thursday (Apr 28), Far East Hospitality Trust (FEHT) reported that its income available for distribution to its security holders went up by 17.2 per cent to S$14.7 million for the quarter ending Mar 31, 2022, compared to the same period a year ago.

This increase comes on the back of lower finance expenses for its commercial premises and lower property tax, pushing net property income higher by 4.5 per cent year on year to S$19 million.

However, its gross revenue decreased marginally by 1.6 per cent to S$21 million over the same period.

The lower revenue overall was mainly due to its commercial premises segment registering a revenue decline of 9.6 per cent to S$3.8 million, a result of the company selling the Central Square mixed-use development to City Developments Limited in March this year, which led to tenants terminating their leases early or not renewing them.

Revenue from the serviced residence segment grew 2.4 per cent to S$3 million, while the hotel segment remained flat at S$14.3 million, which contributes 68 per cent of its total gross revenue, compared to the same period a year ago.

FEHT : Q5T 0%, which comprises both Far East Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) and Far East Hospitality Business Trust stapled as 1 entity, reported that its hotel occupancy rates went down by 8.4 percentage points to 67.7 per cent.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

Sign Up

This is because the government ceased using 3 of the Reit's hotels for isolation purposes.

However, the average rental revenue for an occupied room, known as the average daily rate, went up by 31.8 per cent to S$87, due to higher corporate and leisure rates. Hence, the revenue for each available room increased 15.7 per cent to S$59.

As for its serviced residences, FEHT said that support from long-stay corporate sources helped to keep them performing above fixed rent.

The average occupancy increased 11.9 percentage points year on year to 86.6 per cent, while the average daily rate grew 7.5 per cent to S$201 due to sustained demand from corporates and project groups. As a result, the revenue per available unit increased 24.3 per cent to S$174.

Proceeds from the divestment of China Square were used to repay S$238.6 million worth of term loans. The trust's total debt stands at S$739.3 million as of Mar 31, 2022, with an aggregate leverage of 33.4 per cent.

Units of FEHT closed up 2.3 per cent or S$0.015 at S$0.68 on Wednesday.