Sabana Reit posts Q4 DPU of 0.77 S cent

SABANA Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) on Thursday evening posted a fourth-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.77 Singapore cent for the three months ended Dec 31, up 8.5 per cent from 0.71 cent a year ago.

This was mainly due to additional distribution of the remaining 5.5 per cent distributable income amounting to S$0.5 million (or 0.05 Singapore cent in DPU) that was withheld during its third-quarter distribution.

Net property income (NPI) remained stable at S$13 million for Q4, while gross revenue slipped 2.9 per cent to S$19.4 million from S$20 million a year ago.

The decline in gross revenue was mainly attributable to lower average occupancies at certain properties, the expiry of a master lease at 3A Joo Koon Circle and the divestment of 9 Tai Seng in January last year.

The lower revenue was partially offset by improved occupancy from certain multi-tenanted properties and a new master lease at 21 Joo Koon Crescent, which commenced in November 2019.

Total distributable income rose 8.7 per cent to S$8.1 million, from S$7.4 million in the year-ago period. This distribution will be paid out Feb 27, after books closure on Feb 3. 

For the full year ended Dec 31, DPU stood at 2.92 Singapore cents, down from 3.18 Singapore cents last year. This came as gross revenue fell 5.7 per cent to S$76.3 million, and NPI declined 2.2 per cent to S$51.6 million. Total distributable income for the full year was also down, falling by 7.9 per cent to S$30.7 million.

Looking ahead, Sabana Reit noted in its results presentation slides that the global slowdown and challenging macro conditions may affect the Reit's leasing demand in the short to medium term.