SINGAPORE - Singapore-listed Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), which owns business space in India, has logged a 16 per cent hike in income available for distribution to $12.9 million for the second quarter.
Distribution per unit (DPU) climbed by 14 per cent to 1.25 cents for the three months to Sept 30.
Total property income increased by 11 per cent to $32.1 million, as the Singapore dollar had depreciated by one per cent against the Indian rupiah over the same period last year, while net property income grew 17 per cent to reach $19.2 million.
The upswing in earnings was driven mainly by income generated from the new Aviator building in International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB), as well as positive rental reversions in Chennai and Hyderabad, said a-iTrust in a statement on Monday.
Aviator is a 600,000 sqft building that received its Occupancy Certificate on Jan 8.
a-iTrust's portfolio comprises five IT parks across the primary IT centres of India as at Sept 30, which amounts to7.5 million square feet (sq ft) of completed properties.
The trust said that its properties, which hold a "healthy" committed occupancy rate of 97 per cent, continue to "attract leading multi-national companies investing or expanding in India". It also concluded 1.2 million sq ft of new leases in the first half of the year.
Mr Sanjeev Dasgupta, chief executive officer of the trustee-manager, said: "The income boost that Aviator building has provided this quarter is a validation of using development as a key component of our strategy to increase unitholder value.
"Now that Aviator has achieved income stability, we have commenced the construction of a new IT building, named Victor, in International Tech Park Bangalore."
Victor, located within the special economic zone, will span a total floor area of 620,000 sq ft. It is expected to be completed by the first half of 2016.
Mr Dasgupta noted that Victor will cater to "demand from new and existing tenants".
"After building Victor, we will have balance vacant land plots that can yield 2.3 million sq ft of additional office space in Bangalore. This will be developed in phases to meet future demand," he added.
