SPH REIT unit price sinks 2.68% after it posted a DPU of 1.39 cents for Q3

Mall landlord SPH REIT saw its unit price fall by 2.68% on Friday after it posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.39 Singapore cents for the third quarter and an increase in net property income from a year ago at S$46.3 million.

The group which owns retail malls in Singapore including the Paragon Mall at Orchard Road and The Clementi Mall, said the DPU for the third quarter was 1.5% higher that a year ago.

The payment date for the DPU for the quarter is on August 22, 2019, SPH REIT said.

SPH REIT unit price down by 2.68%

The REIT hit a year-to-date high of S$1.12 on Thursday before falling 2.68% or 3 Singapore cents to S$1.09 at around 2.45pm Singapore time on Friday, as some investors took their bets off the table on the last trading day of the week.

Year-to-date, units of SPH REIT have gained by 9%, from S$1.00 on January 1, 2019.

Net property income up 14.2%, occupancy rate “high” at 99.0%

Net property income, meanwhile, increased by S$5.8 million or 14.2% from the previous quarter, mainly due to contributions from The Rail Mall in Singapore and Figtree Grove Shopping Centre in Australia, the group said.

SPH REIT’s properties maintained a “high occupancy” at 99.0% as of the third quarter, however, in the second quarter, the group had reached an occupancy of 99.2%.

The group’s overall portfolio received a positive rental reversion of 8.4%, which is consistent with the first half of this year.

In the nine months of the financial year ended May 31, 2019, the group said its DPU rose to 4.14 Singapore cents, up from 4.11 Singapore cents in the same nine months a year ago.

The annualized distribution yield is down by 4.1% from the previous year, at a rate of 5.32% for the nine month period ended May 31, 2019, compared to 5.55% in the corresponding period a year ago.

‘For this quarter we also benefited from the contributions from The Rail Mall and Figtree Grove Shopping Centre, which we acquired in 2018…Our focus remains to drive long-term value of our properties and deliver sustainable returns for our unitholders,’ said Ms Susan Leng, the chief executive of SPH REIT Management.