S-Reit Index's 5 best performers averaged 47% YTD return: SGX

THE five best-performing constituents of the iEdge S-Reit Index averaged a total return of 47.4 per cent in the first seven months this year, the Singapore bourse said in a research note on Thursday.

The five Reits (real estate investment trusts) were RHT Health Trust (+98.2 per cent), Ascendas Hospitality Trust (+38.6 per cent), Ascendas India Trust (+35.3 per cent), Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (+34.9 per cent) and Mapletree Commercial Trust (+30.1 per cent).

The iEdge S-Reit Index is a free-float, market cap-weighted index that tracks the performance of Reits listed on the Singapore exchange (SGX). The index's 36 constituents have a combined market cap of over S$95 billion.

In 2019 year-to-date (YTD), the iEdge S-Reit Index clocked total returns of 19.7 per cent, as compared to total returns of 16.3 per cent for the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Asia ex-Japan Reits Index, and 22.8 per cent for the MSCI ACWI REITs Index in US dollar terms, SGX said.

It added that four of the five best-performing trusts are in the hospitality/tourism, industrial, office and retail segments.

Separately, SGX also noted that RHT Health Trust is a cash trust, after it completed the disposal of its entire portfolio of healthcare assets to its controlling unitholder, Fortis Healthcare, in January this year.

"In June, Fortis Healthcare said it had aborted plans to sell its stake in RHT and its trustee manager after it failed to receive a commercially viable proposal from potential buyers. RHT's trustee manager has said it will continue to explore various options for RHT, including identifying possible new businesses that would satisfy SGX's new listing requirements, or the winding up of the trust.

"According to listing rules, SGX will remove RHT from its official list if the trust is unable to meet requirements for a new listing within 12 months from the time it becomes a cash trust."

SGX lists 35 Reits, seven stapled trusts, and three property trusts with a combined market cap of over S$100 billion.

Between January and July 2019, Singapore Reits garnered total institutional inflows of S$187.1 million, with two of the seven months - April and July - registering outflows of S$147.9 million and S$209.2 million respectively, SGX added.