INDUSTRIAL landlord Ascendas Reit (A-Reit) on Thursday reported a 13.8 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPS) in the third quarter, thanks to higher rental reversions.
DPS for the three months ended Dec 31 rose to 4.05 cents, up from 3.56 cents in the same period the year before. Based on the closing price of $1.37 as at year end, the payout represents an annualised yield of 11.8 per cent.
A-Reit, which has a diversified portfolio of 88 properties in Singapore, enjoyed double digit growth in renewal rental rates across all sectors.
In particular, business & science park and hi-tech industrial properties recorded growth of 60.6 per cent and 85.8 per cent respectively over previous contracted rates.
'Portfolio occupancy stands at a healthy 97.2 per cent,' manager for the real estate investment trust said in a statement.
'Due to the diversity of the properties in the portfolio, A-Reit was able to attract tenants from an array of sectors including biomedical, food products & beverages as well as conventional engineering.'
Gross revenue climbed 27.6 per cent to $102.3 million while net property income was up 20.9 per cent at $74.2 million.
With only 1.6 per cent of its portfolio's leasable area up for renewal for the rest of the financial year, the manager for A-Reit expects to be able to deliver a return that is in line with its recent performance.
