Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust Q2 DPU up 3.1%

MAPLETREE North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) has bumped up its second-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.926 Singapore cents, the manager said on Friday.

DPU for the three months to Sept 30 was up 3.1 per cent on the previous year. It takes the half-year payout to 3.807 Singapore cents, against 3.714 cents before.

Distributable income was 15.8 per cent higher at S$60.8 million, with net property income up 18 per cent to S$83.6 million.

The rise in net property income tracked an 18.7 per cent increase in gross revenue to S$104.6 million.

Turnover increased on the back of contributions from Japanese properties picked up in May 2018, as well as higher rent from Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong, Gateway Plaza office building in Beijing, and Sandhill Plaza, a business park development at Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park in Shanghai.

But the higher revenue was partially offset by falls in the Hong Kong dollar and yuan.

The manager said in its outlook statement that greater global uncertainty and market volatility "could impact the economic forecast going forward", but added that the trust's assets are expected to stay resilient "and offer sustainable and stable returns" for the full year.

Cindy Chow, chief executive of the manager, said in a media statement that the higher DPU was "mainly driven by our strategy to diversify MNACT's income streams through the acquisition of the Japan properties" as well as organic growth from existing assets.

She added that the manager is still focused on finding accretive acquisitions in mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan.

MNACT's portfolio had a weighted average lease expiry of three years and an occupancy rate of 99.6 per cent as at Sept 30. The gearing ratio was 39 per cent, up from 36.2 per cent as at March 31.

For the half-year, distributable income was up 12.6 per cent to S$117.6 million. Net property income was higher by 12.3 per cent to S$160.4 million on a 12 per cent rise in gross revenue to S$199 million.

MNACT units closed flat at S$1.13 apiece before the results were announced.