MIT's DPU at 2.85 Singapore cents for Q4, down 7.5%

MAPLETREE Industrial Trust's (MIT) distribution per unit (DPU) stood at 2.85 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter ended March 31, down 7.5 per cent from 3.08 cents a year ago.

Distributable income rose 15.4 per cent to S$69.15 million, while gross revenue rose 3 per cent to S$101.8 million. Net property income increased 3.2 per cent to S$78.26 million for the fourth quarter.

This comes as the group decided that in view of the uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic, tax-exempt income (distributions relating to joint ventures) amounting to S$6.6 million, equivalent to distribution per unit of 0.30 cent, would be withheld in the fourth quarter for MIT and its wholly-owned subsidiaries to have greater flexibility in cash management. Had the tax-exempt income distributions been included, the distribution per unit for Q4 would have been 3.15 cents.

For the full year, MIT's DPU ticked up 0.7 per cent to 12.24 Singapore cents.

Meanwhile, gross revenue and net property income for FY19/20 grew 7.9 per cent and 10.5 per cent year on year to S$405.86 million and S$318.07 million respectively. This was primarily attributed to the higher contributions from 18 Tai Seng, 30A Kallang Place, 7 Tai Seng Drive and Mapletree Sunview 1.

Distributable income for FY19/20 rose 14.5 per cent year on year to S$265.34 million. The improved performance was mainly due to higher net property income, interest income and contributions from the newly acquired 13 data centres in North America held under Mapletree Rosewood Data Centre Trust, a 50:50 joint venture between MIT and Mapletree Investments.

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Unitholders can expect to receive their quarterly DPU for the Jan 1 to March 31 period on June 4. 

In a commentary on its business outlook, MIT's trust manager revealed that about 55 per cent of its Singapore portfolio, or 45 per cent of the overall portfolio, are small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) tenants.

If the pandemic drags on, these tenants may seek relief under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, said MIT. This Act provides temporary relief from legal action for a prescribed period of six months, for court or insolvency proceedings or termination of leases of non-residential properties, for businesses or individuals who are unable to fulfill their contractual obligations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As at March 31, the rental arrears ratio remained stable at 0.2 per cent of the previous 12 months' gross revenue. However, this ratio will increase if more of these SME tenants seek the temporary relief under the Act, said MIT's trust manager.

"There is no visibility when this pandemic will be over, nor the recovery outlook after it is over. Also, presently it is difficult to reasonably assess the cash flow impact of the Act on MIT," said the trust manager.

The manager said that it will be in the interest of the unitholders to prudently withhold the tax-exempt income of S$6.6 million relating to the distributions declared by joint ventures from the Q4 FY19/20 distribution.

As for its assets abroad, all MIT's 27 data centres in North America continue operations during this period.

The trust manager maintained that its large, diversified tenant base with low dependence on any single tenant or trade sector will continue to underpin its portfolio resilience.

In addition, the long leases with "high-quality tenants" in MIT's data centres in Singapore and North America, comprising about 31.6 per cent of the MIT portfolio by assets under management, should contribute to the portfolio resilience, said the trust manager. As at March 31, there were no loans maturing in FY20/21.

The counter closed at S$2.44 on Monday, up six cents, before the results were announced.