Bookmark & Share
by Cheryl Tay
Boosted by higher income contributions from jointly controlled entities and the consolidation of Suntec Singapore’s revenue worth S$14.6 million, Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) has posted a 20.1 percent year-on-year jump on gross revenue to S$73.3 million for the first quarter this year.
This led the company to offer a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.453 cents, an increase of 2.7 percent from a year ago.
Meanwhile, net property income for the quarter rose five percent year-on-year to S$49 million, driven by 100 percent occupancy rate of its Park Mall offices.
While One Raffles Quay (pictured) achieved full occupancy, committed occupancy for Suntec City Mall remained at 96.7 percent and improved slightly for the MBFC properties, at 98.7 percent.
“With Suntec Reit’s high committed occupancy of 99.4 percent, coupled with a balance of only 7.5 percent of its office leases due to expire in 2012, we are cautiously positive on the performance of our office portfolio,” said Yeo See Kiat, Chief Executive Officer of ARA Trust Management, the manager of the trust.
Additionally, Suntec Reit said the first phase of its Suntec City asset enhancement initiative will commence by June. Upon its completion by Q2 2013, the property’s retail net lettable area (NLA) will increase to approximately 380,000 sq ft.
“On the marketing front, we are pleased that more than 45 percent of Phase 1 NLA has been pre-committed to date, even before the commencement of works in June. We are also happy to announce that Swedish clothing giant H&M will take up 20,000 sq ft in Phase 1 of the newly refurbished Suntec City Mall,” noted Yeo.
He added that based on the trust’s leasing progress to date, “projected rental enhancement and return on investment of 10.1 percent are on track.”
Related Stories:
Still no size requirements for small office, shops