SINGAPORE - Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust posted on Wednesday (Jan 25) a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.06 Singapore cents and 12.12 cents for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec 31, 2016.

Excluding the one-off distribution of divestment gains arising from PLife Reit's divestment of seven Japanese nursing homes in December 2014, the DPU from recurring operations grew 2.3 per cent year on year for Q4 2016 and 2.8 per cent for the full year. The divestment gain of 1.5 cents (S$9.11 million) was equally distributed in the four quarters in FY2015.

Available DPU was 9.2 per cent lower for Q4 2016 compared to 3.37 cents a year ago, and 8.8 per cent lower for the full year from 13.29 cents in 2015.

Overall, gross revenue rose 5.4 per cent to S$27.7 million for Q4 2016 and 7.2 per cent to S$110.1 million for FY2016, driven primarily by contribution from the acquisition of a property in March 20166, higher rent from the Singapore properties and the yen's appreciation.

Correspondingly, net property income rose 4 per cent to S$25.6 million for Q4 2016 and 6.7 per cent to S$102.4 million for the full year.

The Reit's manager said the net income hedges put in place for its Japan portfolio continue to serve as an effective shield against the yen's fluctuations, helping to keep distributions to unitholders stable.

During the year under review, the group registered a realised foreign exchange gain amounting to S$1 million from the delivery of yen forward contracts.

For FY2016, PLife Reit registered a portfolio revaluation gain of S$18.2 million. Its total portfolio size stood at approximately S$1.7 billion as at Dec 31, 2016.