Ascendas Reit optimistic on rental outlook in FY20

Its business and science park segment saw double-digit rent increases in first half of this year despite Covid-19 pressures

Published Thu, Jul 23, 2020 · 09:50 PM

ascendas reit

Singapore

ASCENDAS Reit on Thursday posted a resilient set of financial results for the first half of the year even after including rental assistance to tenants, and it remains optimistic on its rental outlook going forward.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, distribution per unit (DPU) fell to 7.27 Singapore cents, compared to 8.153 cents paid out a year ago, due to an enlarged unit base by more than 500 million units in the wake of its rights issue in December 2019.

But William Tay, CEO of the manager, said at a briefing: "We have not held back any dividend; we don't see a need right now" - a contrarian move to other Reits that have held back some amount to help their cash…