Parkway Life Reit Q4 DPU up 2.3%

PARKWAY Trust Management, the manager of Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PLife Reit), announced on Wednesday that PLife Reit's distribution per unit (DPU) grew 2.3 per cent for Q4 2016 and 2.8 per cent for FY2016.

This is excluding the one-off distribution of divestment gains from PLife Reit's maiden divestment of seven Japan properties in December 2016.

Its DPU is 3.06 Singapore cents for Q4 2016 and 12.12 Singapore cents for the full year ended Dec 31, 2016.

PLife Reit is one of Asia's largest listed healthcare Reits.

Overall, its gross revenue was 5.4 per cent higher at S$27.7 million for Q4 2016 from S$26.3 million in the same period a year ago, and up 7.2 per cent to S$110.1 million for FY2016 from S$102.7 million in FY2015.

This, it said, was driven primarily by contribution from the acquisition of a property in March 2016, higher rent from the Singapore properties and appreciation of the Japanese yen as compared to the same period last year.

Correspondingly, net property income went up, registering a 4 per cent increase at S$25.6 million for Q4 and a 6.7 per cent rise at S$102.4 million for FY2016.

The net income hedges put in place for its Japan portfolio continue to serve as an effective shield against the Japanese currency fluctuations, underpinning the sustainability of its stable distributions to unitholders.

During the year under review, the group had registered a realised foreign exchange gain amounting to S$1 million from the delivery of Japanese yen forward contracts.

Independent valuations were also performed for all properties in the portfolio as at Dec 31, 2016, and for FY2016, PLife Reit registered a portfolio revaluation gain of S$18.2 million and its total portfolio size now stands at approximately S$1.7 billion.

As part of its continuous efforts to strengthen its balance sheet, PLife Reit pre-emptively termed out all existing long-term debts, with no immediate refinancing need until FY2019.

Gearing remains healthy at 36.3 per cent with an effective all-in cost of debt of 1.4 per cent. As such, with 99 per cent of its interest rate exposure hedged, the group remains well insulated from interest-rate vulnerabilities.

Chief executive officer of the manager Yong Yean Chau said: "Building on our sound fundamentals and defensive position, we remain vigilant in screening for compelling investment opportunities in the new year and beyond."