https://www.fool.sg/2016/10/28/late...capital-industrial-reit-a-tough-market-ahead/
In the earnings release, AA REIT commented that the industrial leasing market “will continue to remain challenging in the short term as rents and occupancies continue to be under pressure” as a result of “the weak economic climate and industrial oversupply situation in Singapore.”
Koh Wee Lih, the chief executive of AA REIT’s manager, had some thoughts to share on the REIT’s future plans:
“Our top priority is tenant retention as part of our active lease management strategy, while we continue to explore opportunities to unlock organic growth and seek risk-adjusted yield accretive investments. We also continue to manage risk through a prudent capital management and diversification across our portfolio of 26 properties”.
Financial highlights
For the quarter, gross revenue declined 4.3% year-on-year to S$29.9 million from S$31.3 million.
The drop in revenue flowed through to net property income (NPI), which decreased 6.9% to S$19.3 million.
Distributable income was S$17.5 million, down 1.4% from the S$17.8 million seen in the same period last year. Consequently, distributions per unit (DPU) ticked downwards by 1.8% from 2.80 cents to 2.75 cents.
AA REIT’s net asset value (NAV) per unit declined 3.2% from S$1.52 a year ago to S$1.47.
Moving on to the balance sheet, AA REIT’s aggregate leverage clocked in at 34% in the reporting quarter, up from 30.9% over the same period the year before. The REIT’s total debt had increased from S$448.4 million to S$501.9 million.
Meanwhile, AA REIT managed to increase its interest cover ratio marginally from 4.8 times a year ago to 4.9 times. The total cost of its debt had also reduced from 4.5% to 3.9%.
The REIT has no debt due on FY2017, but will see 23% of its total borrowings come due in FY2018. Investors may want to watch the REIT’s progress in refinancing its borrowings.