Starhill Global Reit expects H2 distribution to be below 90% of taxable income

Published Thu, Jun 11, 2020 · 12:14 PM

STARHILL Global Real Estate Investment Trust (Starhill Global Reit) on Thursday said its upcoming distribution to unitholders for the six months leading up to June 30 (H2 FY2019/20) is expected to be below 90 per cent of its taxable income this year.

The group intends to use the Singapore government's tax transparency extension to "prudently manage cash flow and maintain financial flexibility" in the interest of unitholders amid the Covid-19 crisis, it said in a statement.

The manager further noted that the global pandemic is expected to have a "significant adverse impact" on the group's financial performance, income available for distribution, and cash flow for the remaining period of FY2019/20.

As part of Covid-19 support measures, the government will extend the timeline for Singapore-Reits to distribute at least 90 per cent of their taxable income for FY2020 and FY2021 in order to qualify for tax transparency.

Starhill Global Reit's upcoming distribution to be declared in July - when aggregated with earlier distributions in the first half of FY2019/20 - is expected to be below 90 per cent of its taxable income.

The manager said it will determine the appropriate amount of distributions, taking into consideration funding requirements, operations and debt repayments, and other capital-management considerations. It will also determine the appropriate time to distribute the balance of taxable income for FY 2019/20. This will be before Dec 31, 2021, as per the extended deadline under the tax transparency extension.