Parkway Life Reit posts 7.4% rise in Q1 DPU to 3.57 S cents

PARKWAY Life Real Estate Investment Trust (Parkway Life Reit) on Friday posted a 7.4 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 3.57 Singapore cents for its first quarter ended March 31, 2021, from 3.32 cents the year before.

On an annualised basis DPU was 14.28 Singapore cents, up 7.4 per cent from 13.28 cents the previous year.

Gross revenue for the quarter was up 0.4 per cent to S$30 million, from S$29.9 million the year prior, even though the Reit had divested a pharmaceutical manufacturing and distributing facility in January. This was mainly due to rent contributions from a nursing home acquired in December 2020, as well as higher rent from Singapore properties, the manager said in a bourse filing.

Net property income grew 1 per cent on the year to S$28 million for the first quarter, from S$27.7 million. This was partly due to lower property expenses, which fell 7.2 per cent to S$2 million from S$2.1 million a year ago. 

Distributable income was up 7.4 per cent year on year to S$21.6 million, from S$20.1 million the year before.

On a year-on-year basis, the Reit's distributable income was also lifted by the absence of one-off Covid-19-related relief measures retained in Q1 2020.

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In the first quarter of last year, the Reit retained S$850,000 as part of Covid-19 relief measures for tenants. Excluding the impact of the one-off retention, distributable income for Q1 2021 would have risen 3 per cent on the year.

The Q1 2021 distribution will be paid out on May 31, after book closure on May 3.

Parkway Life Reit’s gearing levels stood at 37.8 per cent as at March 31, 2021. Its interest coverage ratio stood at 20.9 times, with about 85 per cent of interest rate exposure hedged. 

The portfolio’s total committed occupancy across Singapore, Japan and Malaysia stands at 99.7 per cent. Its weighted average lease expiry by gross revenue was 5.37 years as at March 31, 2021. 

Units of Parkway Life Reit closed 1.19 per cent or 5 Singapore cents lower at S$4.16 on Friday.