Keppel Reit posts 2.9% rise in Q4 DPU to 1.4 S cents

KEPPEL Reit's distribution per unit (DPU) for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 rose 2.9 per cent year-on-year to 1.4 Singapore cents, from 1.36 cents a year ago.

For the quarter under review, property income rose 10.4 per cent to S$41.75 million, while net property income (NPI) increased 9.3 per cent to S$33.36 million. This came on the back of higher property income and NPI from Ocean Financial Centre, 275 George Street, 8 Exhibition Street, and income contribution from Grade A office building T Tower in Seoul. Meanwhile, income available for distribution edged up 2.1 per cent year-on-year to S$47.14 million. For the full year, performance was affected by lower one-off income, and by the sale of Bugis Junction Towers which was divested on Nov 29, 2019. Property income dipped 1.1 per cent year-on-year to S$164.05 million, while NPI was 3.2 per cent lower at S$128.9 million.

In FY2019, the manager committed total leases of approximately 831,200 square feet, most of which were in Singapore. The average signing rent for the Singapore office leases committed in FY19 was about S$12.42 psf pm. As at Dec 31 2019, the portfolio's committed occupancy stood at 99.1 per cent, while the portfolio WALE was 4.9 years. Keppel Reit said: "The manager will continue its ongoing portfolio optimisation strategy, which seeks to improve yield and create long-term value for unitholders. Apart from driving operational excellence in asset management, the manager will continue its prudent capital management to optimise borrowing costs, manage debt maturities and hedging strategies to improve returns."

Keppel Reit units closed one cent higher at S$1.27 on Wednesday.