ELITE Commercial Reit’s portfolio valuation as at Dec 1, 2023, stood at £412.5 million (S$697.1 million) across 150 properties, based on the latest external valuation conducted by CBRE.

While this is 11.2 per cent down from the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) £464.5 million reported portfolio value as at Dec 31, 2022, the manager said it represents a 9.5 per cent decline based on the carrying value of investment properties on a like-for-like comparison of the 150 properties. 

In a business update on Tuesday (Dec 5), the Reit manager reported an adjusted net asset value (NAV) per unit of £0.43, representing a 15.7 per cent drop from £0.51 as at end-September.

The adjusted NAV accounts for divestments of assets in October and December 2023, the repayment of loans in October 2023, and the value of the 150 properties as at Dec 1 this year.

Elite Commercial Reit’s gearing ratio rose 3.8 percentage points to 49.6 per cent as at Dec 1, from 45.8 per cent as at end-September.

Its manager nonetheless emphasised that this remains within the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s 50 per cent gearing limit. It also underscored the Reit’s “robust” interest coverage ratio of 3.3 times on a pro forma basis, despite the 9.5 per cent decline in portfolio value.

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With no near-term debt maturity until end-2024, the manager said the Reit remains compliant with all financial covenants under its debt facilities.

This ensures that distributions to unitholders remain unaffected, it added.

Looking ahead, the manager said it remains positive on the relevance of the Reit’s fit-for-purpose portfolio of assets in the UK, which it highlighted as “part of the critical public infrastructure serving the UK’s social services sector”.

It also expects the Reit’s leases – which are almost 100 per cent signed directly with the UK government – to provide credit stability and income certainty to unitholders.

Joshua Liaw, chief executive officer of the manager, said: “We aim to continue actively enhancing and unlocking the portfolio’s value for our unitholders through proactive asset management strategies and continued tenant engagement.” 

Units of Elite Commercial Reit : MXNU 0% ended Monday £0.005 or 1.7 per cent higher at £0.30.