GLP secures new leases totalling 98,000 sq m in China

Singapore

MAINBOARD-listed Global Logistic Properties (GLP) has secured new leases totalling 98,000 square metres with five Chinese companies.

In a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Monday, the facilities provider said that the new leases are mainly related to expansion demand from the organised retail sector, including e-commerce and chain stores. Three of the leases are new customer relationships for GLP.

The customers include Cainiao, a data and technology-based logistics platform focused on e-commerce and affiliated to the Alibaba Group; Best Logistics, a leading third-party logistics provider and GLP's largest customer by leased area in China; as well as a fast growing fresh food provider serving over 10 million small and medium-sized restaurants across China.

GLP, whose single largest shareholder is GIC, has a US$36 billion property portfolio spanning 52 million sq m of logistics facilities across China, Japan, the US and Brazil. Of this, 57 per cent of its net asset value resides in China.

Group Patmi (profit after tax and minority interest) was up 48 per cent to US$719 million for fiscal 2016 on the back of higher asset values in China, development completion gains in Japan and GLP's entry into the US market. GLP has raised its dividend payout every year from three Singapore cents per share in fiscal 2012 to six cents in fiscal 2016.

GLP's counter rose by 0.5 Singapore cent to close at S$1.805 on Monday.