No distributable income for Dasin Retail Trust as it posts S$56.4m loss

DASIN Retail Trust on Sunday (Aug 14) reported a S$56.4 million loss based on financial statements prepared on a going concern basis for the first half ended June 2022, versus a profit of S$2.9 million in the year-ago period.

No distribution per unit (DPU) has been declared for the period under review, as opposed to a H1 DPU of 2.98 Singapore cents the previous year. This is after factoring in a “distribution waiver” that waives a portion of major unitholders’ entitlement to distribution.

The latest set of results brings the retail property trust to a loss per unit of 7.13 Singapore cents compared to earnings per unit of 0.37 cent in H1 FY2021.

Revenue and net property income both fell 7.1 per cent to S$47.7 million and S$38 million, respectively, largely due to lower contributions from several of the trust’s malls due to Covid-related restrictions in parts of China.

Noting that strict travel restrictions and social distancing measures resulted in lower-than-expected consumer sentiments, Dasin Retail Trust’s trustee-manager said distribution income for the latest H1 period has been retained and deferred for “prudent cash flow and capital management in view of the continued uncertainties arising from the Covid-19 situation in China”.

“Retaining the distributable income is one of the approaches we adopt to conserving cash in view of Covid-19 uncertainties. Meanwhile, we will continue with our efforts in expediting the completion of the refinancing exercise by working closely with our lenders,” said Wang Qiu, chief executive of the trustee-manager.

Earlier in April this year, the auditor of Dasin Retail Trust flagged a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the trust’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Based on the financial statements for H1, net current liabilities were at S$810 million compared to S$806 million a year ago. Total liabilities stood at S$1.40 billion, marginally down from S$1.43 billion in the previous year.

The trustee-manager announced it was granted a 6-month extension for onshore and offshore facilities worth S$430 million and 400 million yuan (S$81.3 million) from Jun 19, 2022 to Dec 31, 2022.

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Another offshore syndicated term loan facility of up to S$132.9 million relating to the trust’s acquisition of Shunde Metro Mall and Tanbei Metro Mall also gained an extension up to Dec 31, 2022 from Jul 17, 2022.

Aside from working closely with creditors for the trust’s ongoing refinancing exercise, the trustee-manger said it is also “working closely with several potential strategic investors with the aim to complete the refinancing exercise soonest”.

The trust did not disclose any forecast for FY2022.

Dasin Retail Trust ended Friday S$0.005 or 1.6 per cent lower at S$0.305.