Viva Industrial Trust's Q1 DPS falls 12.4% to 1.638 Singapore cents
VIVA Industrial Trust's distribution per stapled security (DPS) fell 12.4 per cent to 1.638 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 - lower than the 1.87 cents reported in the corresponding period a year ago.
Gross revenue, however, rose 21.2 per cent to S$21.91 million, and net property income increased 27.3 per cent to S$15.8 million.
The higher gross revenue was mainly due to additional rental contribution of S$2.6 million from Home-Fix Building and 11 Ubi Road 1, which were acquired by Viva Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (VI-Reit) on Nov 24, 2015. Higher rental and other income contribution from Viva Business Park helped as well.
Noting the challenging year ahead for Singapore Reits, Viva Industrial Trust said: "Occupancy and rental reversion are the two key issues troubling the sector. Occupancy rates for both retail and industrial REITs have bottomed out in the last two quarters, and are likely to remain stable at current levels. While occupancy is expected to have stabilized, rental reversions are likely to trend down."
Commenting on the Reit's outlook and plans, Viva Industrial Trust Management's CEO Wilson Ang said: "We have made considerable investments in the past year which are starting to bear fruit. We will stay focused on building upon VIT's fundamentals and keep a look out for opportunities to drive further value for our stapled securityholders."
