SINGAPORE - Parkway Trust Management, the manager of Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PLife Reit), on Thursday (Nov 5) announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.36 cents for the third quarter ended Sept 30.

This marks a 15.6 per cent growth over the DPU of 2.9 cents from the same period a year ago.

Total distributable income from the healthcare Reit - one of the largest in Asia - came in at $20.3 million, up on the $17.6 million previously, said the manager.

Without one-time divestment gains from the completion of the asset recycling initiative in March, DPU from recurring operations grew 2.5 per cent.

Gross revenue rose 2.5 per cent to $26 million, primarily from higher yielding properties acquired from the asset recycling initiative and higher rent from the Singapore properties, said Parkway Trust Management.

Net property income expanded 2.4 per cent to $24.3 million for the quarter, and was up 1.6 per cent to $71.4 million for the nine months.

While PLife Reit acknowledged that macro headwinds are likely to persist, it also said that it has guarded against potential risks of an environment with rising interest rates so it can continue to deliver "sustained returns" for its unitholders.

The Reit, for instance, has eliminated imminent refinancing risk, with no long-term debt refinancing needs due until 2017. It has also hedged about 78 per cent of its interest rate exposure to "reduce interest rate risk and better manage its financing costs".

"Our robust portfolio fundamentals and sound financial metrics have allowed us to deliver consistent attractive results and rewards to our unitholders," said Mr Yong Yean Chau, chief executive of the manager.

"Moving ahead, while we seek to be nimble to market changes, we will continue to build on our successful strategies to enhance our overall value and growth potential in a sustainable way."

The stock was up two cents at $2.35 as at 10.30am on Thursday, after the results were released.