Savings from pay cuts at Starhill Global Reit to be passed on to unitholders

THE board of directors and top executives at Starhill Global Reit (SGReit)'s manager will take paycuts in light of the Covid-19 situation, the savings of which will be passed on to unitholders as part of a 10-per-cent reduction in base management fees payable by SGReit for the next three months from April.

The board of directors will take a 20 per cent cut in directors' fees. The chief executive officer and chief financial officer will each take a pay cut of 10 per cent, while other senior staff will have their salary reduced by 5 per cent.  The cuts will be effective for three months from April 2020 and will be reviewed at the end of the period. 

SGReit will switch from quarterly to semi-annual distribution from the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The manager said the move will allow for better capital management and cost-saving, given the need to maintain "financial flexibility until (there is) more visibility on the pandemic".

The next distribution period will be for the six-month period from Jan 1 to June 30, 2020. SGReit will also adopt the announcement of half-yearly financial statements from the financial year ending June 30, 2021.

The total amount of rental rebates given out in response to Covid-19, including those to be extended to tenants within the portfolio of SGReit, amount to about S$13.6 million. Of this, S$10.8 million relates to the property tax rebates to be received from the Singapore government.

Units in SGReit closed at 41.5 Singapore cents on Wednesday, down 1 Singapore cent or 2.35 per cent.