Keppel Reit 'quietly confident' despite fall in office occupancy; H2 DPU down 1.7% to S$0.0288

Jude Chan

Published Tue, Jan 25, 2022 · 06:21 PM

The manager of KEPPEL Reit K71U : K71U 0%on Tuesday (Jan 25) said it was “quietly confident” on positive news ahead on the leasing front, even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hamper a return to office.

Keppel Reit’s portfolio committed occupancy fell to 95.4 per cent as at Dec 31, 2021, down 1.7 percentage points from 97.1 per cent in the preceding quarter. Year on year, portfolio occupancy has dropped 2.5 percentage points from the 97.9 per cent recorded as at Dec 31, 2020.

Before the Covid-19 lockdowns had led to work-from-home arrangements becoming the norm, the real estate investment trust (Reit) reported portfolio occupancy at 99.1 per cent as at end-December 2019.

“As the economy slowly reopens, we are seeing an increase in enquiries on the space, so we are feeling confident in trying to backfill these spaces. There's actually a little bit of tailwind behind us as well,” said Koh Wee Lih, chief executive officer of Keppel Reit, at a briefing following…