Aims Apac Reit Q3 DPU up 14.6% to S$0.0235

AIMS Apac Reit (AA Reit) O5RU has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0235 for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2021, up 14.6 per cent from a year ago.

Unitholders of the real estate investment trust (Reit) can expect to receive the Q3 distribution on Mar 25, 2022, after the record date of Feb 10.

In a business update filed to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday (Jan 27) morning, AA Reit's manager said the higher DPU was supported by the increase in gross revenue, which went up year on year by 14.5 per cent to S$36.8 million from S$32.1 million.

The topline's climb had been supported by the acquisition of the fully-leased Woolworths Headquarters in Sydney, Australia, which commenced revenue contributions on Nov 15, 2021, as well as higher gross revenue from its other properties in Singapore.

Net property income also rose 14.8 per cent year on year to S$27.1 million, from S$23.6 million.

Meanwhile, portfolio occupancy increased to 97.6 per cent, up 0.3 per cent quarter on quarter and above JTC's Q3 2021 industrial average of 90.1 per cent. The manager attributed this to the execution of 10 new and 8 renewal leases, representing 48,067 square metres or 6.1 per cent of total net lettable area, as well as a weighted average lease expiry of 4.85 years.

AA Reit's portfolio consists of 29 properties in Singapore and Australia, backed by 198 tenants across multi-tenanted and master leased properties.

For the first 9 months ended Dec 31, 2021, distributions to unitholders was S$50.3 million, an increase of 17.7 per cent from the same period the year before. DPU for the 9 months was S$0.071, rising 17.4 per cent from the previous 9 months DPU of S$0.0605.

AA Reit's aggregate leverage as of Dec 31, 2021 was 37.3 per cent, within the aggregate leverage limit of 50 per cent set by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Together with the Reit's undrawn committed facilities and cash and bank balances of S$237.2 million, AA Reit's manager said it has the financial flexibility to pursue new acquisition opportunities and asset enhancement initiatives as and when they arise. Its weighted average debt maturity as at end-December 2021 stands at 3.2 years.

George Wang, chairman of the manager, said: "We remain firmly focused on executing our strategy of seeking strategic investments, active asset and leasing management, prudent capital and risk management, as well as capital and business partnerships to generate attractive long-term total returns."

Units of AA Reit closed at S$1.40, down 2.1 per cent or S$0.03, on Thursday.

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