SPH Reit records 98.8% occupancy in Q1
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Shoppers at the Paragon, on Oct 21, 2021.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Sharanya Pillai
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SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - SPH Reit recorded an occupancy rate of 98.8 per cent as at end-November, its manager disclosed in a quarterly update on Friday (Jan 7). This marks an improvement from its 97.9 per cent occupancy rate a year ago.
The real estate investment trust (Reit) will be issuing notice of its books closure date and distribution payment date of its first quarter distribution only after the auditor and financial adviser's report is completed.
This is because of the possible chain offer for SPH Reit, as part of the takeover battle for Singapore Press Holdings.
Alongside healthy occupancy, SPH Reit's weighted average lease expiry (Wale) is stable at 5.5 years by net lettable area.
Its strategically located assets with "captive catchments" cushioned the impact of Covid-19, the Reit manager said.
In Singapore, tenants' sales held steady in Q1 despite the 6 weeks' restriction on dining in to 2 people.
Sales at Paragon and The Clementi Mall was 97 per cent that of the year-ago period.
Occupancy in the Singapore portfolio increased to 99.8 per cent, from 98.9 per cent in Q4 FY2021.
In Australia, tenant sales at Westfield Marion Shopping Centre in Adelaide rose 6 per cent year on year despite the pandemic.
Figtree Grove Shopping Centre in New South Wales was in lockdown for 3.5 months until Oct 10. But sales have since recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels in November.
The Reit manager added that capital management is healthy, with the cost of debt at 1.68 per cent, excluding perps, and a weighted average term to maturity of 2.7 years.
Revolving credit facility lines of $225 million remain undrawn.
SPH Reit has seen significant improvement in trading liquidity following its inclusion in the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Global Developed Index.
Daily traded volume averaged 4.6 million shares in Q1, up from 1.6 million shares in FY2021.
Looking ahead, SPH Reit's manager is "cautiously optimistic" about the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant, given that it is said to be more transmissible but less severe.
Units of SPH Reit closed at $0.98 on Friday, down 0.51 per cent.
