RHT Health Trust reports 18.8% drop in Q4 DPU

RHT Health Trust reported a 18.8 per cent drop in distribution per unit (DPU) for the fourth quarter ended March 31 to 1.12 cents.

It attributed the drop to the reduced share in Fortis Hospotel Ltd (FHTL) of 49 per cent, down from 100 per cent previously, and higher corporate taxes and loan interest costs.

The management also decided to reduce the payout from distributable income from 100 per cent in fiscal 2016 to 95 per cent in fiscal 2017, to use the retained distributable income for capital expenditure and future growth.

Total revenue grew 4.8 per cent to S$22.57 million on the back of a 3 per cent contracted annual increase in base fee across all clinical establishments, as well as higher variable fee due to higher revenue generated by RHT's operator Fortis Healthcare Ltd.

For the full year, RHT Health Trust's DPU was 5.97 cents, 11.2 per cent lower than the preceding year. As of March 31, RHT's gearing was 20.5 per cent.

RHT Health Trust said that two major projects - Ludhiana Greenfield Clinical Establishment and the expansion of BG Road Brownfield Clinical Establishment - are close to completion.

Negotiations are also underway for the new hospital and medical services agreement to be signed for operations at Ludhiana Greenfield Clinical Establishment to begin.