SINGAPORE - Real estate investment trusts (Reits) listed here gave investors a smaller return so far this year compared to last year, a My Gateway report released on Monday by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) showed.
The 28 Reits listed here averaged a 5.7 per cent total return - which includes dividend - in the year to date, down from a 7.7 per cent gain for the same period last year, the report out on Monday (May 11) said.
The 5.7 per cent average gain so far this year brings their average 12-month return to 12.6 per cent. SGX said.
The average indicative dividend yield of the 28 Reits is currently 6.1 per cent, compared to 6.3 per cent this time last year, but this is double the 3 per cent yield of the Singapore Fixed Income Index, the bourse noted.
Within the segment, the top performers in the year to date were First Reit, Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Starhill Global Reit.
First Reit's total return has grown 19.1 per cent so far this year, while prices have soared 15.5 per cent. The healthcare Reit with hospitals and nursing facilities in Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea is a hot pick for investors now, having reported a 3.5 per cent year-on-year rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 2.06 cents for the quarter to March 31.
The total return for Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust, with a mall in Hong Kong and an office building in Beijing, rose 12.5 per cent in the year to date. Higher rents helped lift its DPU in the first quarter by 9.8 per cent to 1.742 cent.
On the other end of the segment, CapitaLand Commercial Trust, Suntec Reit, Keppel Reit, Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial Reit and IREIT Global all reported a drop in year-to-date total return.
IREIT, which went public on the SGX just August last year, faced intense competition over demand for office properties in Germany, where its entire portfolio is based on. Its first quarter DPU was 1.04 euros (1.61 cent), falling some 8 per cent short of market forecasts.
Despite the varying performances, Singapore-listed Reits are still a robust sector, SGX said.
It said: "The Reit sector now comprises 28 Reits and six stapled trusts that make up $68 billion in market capitalisation. This is approximately 7 per cent of the total market capitalisation of all stocks listed for trading on SGX. Last year, the sector distributed approximately $3.6 billion in distributions to unitholders."
