Parkway Life Reit Q3 DPU up 10%

PARKWAY Life Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) on Thursday reported a 10.1 per cent year-on-year increase in its distribution per unit (DPU) to 3.37 Singapore cents for its third financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2017.

The Reit attributed the rise mainly to the partial distribution of gains arising from the S$1.3 million divestment of four Japan properties in December 2016, and said that it will distribute it equally to unitholders over the four quarters in fiscal 2017.

Excluding the distribution of one-time divestment gains, the Reit said that DPU growth from recurring operations registered a steady increase of 2.8 per cent for the quarter.

After deducting property expenses, net property income was S$25.88 million, down slightly by 1.2 per cent from the year-ago period. Net asset value per unit of the group remained at S$1.72 as at Sept 30, 2017 the same as at Dec 30 last year.

Gross revenue inched lower by 1.4 per cent to S$27.7 million, resulting from the depreciation of the Japanese yen, which offset gains from higher rent received from the Reit's Singapore properties and contributions from its asset recycling exercise.

In its long-term outlook, the Reit said that the industry continues to be driven by favourable patient demographics and demand for "better quality healthcare and aged care services".

In its results filing, CEO of the Reit manager Yong Yean Chau noted that this quarter marks a special milestone as it is the Reit's 10th anniversary since its listing on Aug 23, 2007.