The manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.28 cents for the 1HFY2022 ended June, 2% higher than the DPU of 4.20 cents in the same period the year before.
On a h-o-h basis, the REIT’s DPU increased by 19% from the DPU of 3.60 cents in the 2HFY2021 due to an increase in occupancy in the major IT parks, says the REIT manager.
In INR terms, total property income increased by 10% y-o-y to INR5.76 billion. The higher total property income was mainly attributable to income from the newly-acquired aVance 6 building in Hyderabad, Building Q1 in Aurum Q Parc in Navi Mumbai, Arshiya Warehouse 7, income from the industrial facility in Mahindra World City, Chennai, as well as higher utilities and carpark income.
aVance 6, Building Q1, Arshiya Warehouse 7 and the industrial facility in Chennai were acquired in March 2021, November 2021, March and May respectively.
Total property expenses for the half-year period increased by 11% y-o-y to INR1.11 billion largely due to higher operational and maintenance expenses, partially offset by lower utilities expenses in the current period.
As a result, NPI increased by 9% y-o-y to INR4.65 billion.
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Income available for distribution increased by 4% y-o-y to INR3.07 billion.
In SGD terms, total property income increased by 8% y-o-y to $103.3 million; the SGD appreciated by about 1% against the INR y-o-y.
NPI increased by 8% y-o-y to $83.4 million while income available for distribution increased by 3% y-o-y to $55.1 million.
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As at June 30, a-iTrust’s committed portfolio occupancy stood at 90% with a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 3.7 years.
The REIT’s gearing stood at 35% as at June 30; cash and cash equivalents stood at $180.3 million for the period.
“We are pleased to announce a DPU of 4.28 Singapore cents for 1HFY2022, an increase of 19% from 2HFY2021 and 2% y-o-y. Portfolio occupancy increased to 90%, backed by significant leases signed in ITPC (International Tech Park Chennai) and ITPB (International Tech Park Bangalore) as we added several quality tenants to its portfolio. ITPC saw the largest recovery in occupancy from 65% in December 2021 to 83% in June; while in ITPB, occupancy increased from 91% to 95% during the same period,” says Sanjeev Dasgupta CEO of the manager.
“As India resumes normalcy, we are witnessing an increase in physical park population across our parks with 36% of the park population back to office as at end June. Leasing and renewal volumes for our portfolio in 1HFY2022 stood at approximately 1.3 million sq ft, buoyed by strong year-on-year office leasing growth of 157% across India. We are encouraged by the ongoing leasing interest and expect leasing momentum to further improve in the second half of 2022.”
Units in a-iTrust closed 1 cent lower or 0.86% down at $1.16 on July 29.
