RHT Health Trust Q1 DPU down 18% to one Singapore cent

RHT HEALTH Trust has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of one Singapore cent for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, down 18 per cent from 1.22 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the quarter fell 8.8 per cent to S$22 million, due mainly to the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the Singapore dollar. In Indian rupee terms, the fall in total revenue would have been 1.6 per cent instead.

Lower occupancy levels also meant lower operator revenue and thus a decrease in variable fee for the quarter. Occupancy was 62 per cent in Q1 2019, compared to 72 per cent for Q1 2018.

Total distributable income for the quarter was S$8.6 million, down 18.1 per cent from S$10.4 million in the year-ago period. No distribution has been declared for the first quarter of FY 2019.

The work required for the disposal of RHT's assets to Fortis Healthcare is in progress, said the trust's manager in the results announcement on Thursday after the market closed.

Said RHT Health Trust Manager's chief executive officer Gurpreet Dhillon: "We are supportive of IHH's proposed investment into Fortis, and are following the progress closely as that may have an indirect bearing on the timeline for the completion of our proposed disposal of assets to Fortis. At the RHT front, we are looking to send out the circular to seek RHT unitholders for their approval to dispose of the assets. This would be a key step, and we are pushing to get this done as soon as possible."

"In the interim, business continues as per normal at the clinical establishments, although we are taking a wait and see approach first with respect to any major capital expenditure plans," he added.

RHT's counter ended trading at up 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent at 79 Singapore cents on Thursday, before the results release.