THE manager of Starhill Global real estate investment trust : P40U 0% (Reit) has declared a distribution per unit of S$0.0198 for the second half of its current financial year (FY2022/2023), a 2 per cent drop from the DPU of S$0.0202 in the year-ago period.

Distributable income fell 3.7 per cent to S$45.4 million for the reporting period ended Jun 30, driven by a lower net property income and higher net finance costs, said the manager in a bourse filing on Thursday (Jul 27). It also said that it would retain S$0.7 million of distributable income for H2 as working capital.

For the full FY, DPU came in at S$0.038 – unchanged from the previous FY – representing an annual yield of 7.4 per cent based on the Jun 30 closing price of S$0.515.

Unitholders can expect to receive their dividend for H2 on Aug 29.

Net property income for H2 went down 2 per cent to S$73.6 million, mainly due to net movement in foreign currencies and the divestment of the Daikanyama mall in Tokyo, Japan, though this was partially offset by higher contributions from its Singapore properties.

Gross revenue was also down 2.5 per cent to S$93 million.

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For the full year, net property income rose 2.2 per cent to S$147.8 million, from S$144.7 million in the previous FY. This was mainly due to its Singapore portfolio, the completion of asset-enhancement works at The Starhill in Kuala Lumpur and lower rental assistance, despite foreign-exchange weakness and loss of income from divestment.

Gross revenue for the full year went up by 0.7 per cent year on year to S$187.8, from S$186.4 million last FY.

The group’s portfolio valuation of S$2.8 billion as at Jun 30 was 4.3 per cent lower than a year ago, mainly due to the downward revaluation of its Australia assets and Wisma Atria mall in Orchard, the divestment of Daikanyama, as well as net movement in foreign currencies.

Francis Yeoh, the manager’s chairman, said that the Reit has benefited from the post-pandemic recovery with strong improvement in occupancy and shopper traffic for the portfolio. \

“However, the global macro environment has become more uncertain in recent times, as geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures threaten to derail economic growth. Notwithstanding that, our disciplined and proactive execution during the pandemic coupled with our quality portfolio has enabled us to emerge from the pandemic with renewed strength,” he said.

The occupancy rate of its total portfolio remained stable at 96.8 per cent as at Jun 30.

Tenant sales at Wisma Atria in the second half rose by 4.5 per cent, and shopper traffic, by 17 per cent year on year.

Units of the Reit rose 1 per cent or S$0.005 to close at S$0.52 on Thursday.