Mapletree Commercial Trust, in what is likely its final year as a pure-play Singapore REIT, has reported revenue and net property income growth of 4.3% and 3.1% respectively for its FY2022 ended March 31 2022.
MCT is trying to merge with its sister REIT Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust, has reported income available for distribution of $301.2 million, up 5.1% y-o-y.
Including cash of $15.7 million retained in 4QFY2020, distribution per unit (DPU) in FY2022 rose 0.4% to 9.53 cents. For 2HFY2022, distribution will be 5.14 cents.
VivoCity, its key asset, enjoyed sizeable y-o-y growth of 8.6% and 8.1% for its gross revenue and net property income respectively.
According to the REIT manager, the improvement was mainly due to tapering rental rebates, the effect of step-up rents in existing leases and higher carpark income. As at end-March this year, VivoCity was 99.2% committed.
MCT’s office and business park assets enjoyed mild improvement as well, with gross revenue up 1.9% y-o-y, driven by higher contribution from Mapletree Business City (MBC), mTower and MLHF.
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mTower’s actual occupancy improved significantly from 75% (in December 2021) to 84.7% (in March 2022) with the commencement of pre-committed leases in 4QFY2022. The majority of mTower’s vacancy was due to the negotiated pre-termination of a lease, and the compensation received in 1QFY2022 provided more than a year’s cover for backfilling.
Another property, Mapletree Anson, saw actual occupancy rose to 95% as at end-March.
MBC also reported higher committed and actual occupancy rates of 97.3% and 94.0% respectively, while MLHF, better known as Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront, continued to enjoy full occupancy.
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The positive leasing momentum for office/business park is expected to continue through to the new financial year, MCT’s manager says.
MCT’s debt expiries remain well-staggered. As at end-March, the debt maturity profile remained well-distributed with no more than 24% of its debt due for refinancing in any given year.
Due to the passing of time, the average term to maturity was shorter at 3.3 years as at Mar 31. The aggregate leverage was 33.5% and approximately 80.3% of the total debt of $3,014.0 million was fixed by way of fixed rate debt and/or interest rate swaps.
As at end-March, the weighted average all-in cost of debt was 2.40% per annum and the interest coverage ratio was approximately 4.8 times.
On March 21, MCT and MNACT revised terms of the merger first announced late last year. Instead of a mix of cash and units, MNACT unitholders now have the option to receive all their proceeds in cash.
Sharon Lim, CEO of MCT's manager, reminds investors that the all-cash option has given MNACT unitholders "greater flexibility" in exercising their preference when accepting the offer.
"The rationale for the merger remains unchanged and MCT unitholders can expect the same pro forma financial effects as compared to the original terms of the trust scheme," adds Lim.
MCT closed April 20 at $1.87, up 0.54% for the day.
