Suntec REIT’s DPU up 0.8% in Q2

SINGAPORE — Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Suntec REIT) said yesterday it will disburse a slightly higher payout to unitholders for the second quarter of this year, while observing a positive outlook for its office portfolio.

Suntec REIT will pay a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.266 cents for the quarter, up 0.8 per cent from 2.249 cents in the year-ago period, its trust manager said yesterday. Total distributable income was 11.3 per cent higher at S$56.6 million.

Suntec REIT’s assets include properties in Suntec City and Park Mall and one-third interests in One Raffles Quay, Marina Bay Financial Centre Towers 1 and 2 and the Marina Bay Link Mall.

Gross revenue for the three months ended June rose 45.1 per cent on-year to S$68.1 million, mainly due to the opening of Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre following the completion of asset enhancement works. This boosted net property income by 64.9 per cent to S$46.1 million, the trust manager said.

The trust manager said it expects Suntec REIT’s office portfolio to continue to do well this year amid a healthy demand for office space as business sentiment improves.

On the retail front, however, it sounded a note of caution, saying that while the leasing activity remained active in the second quarter amid the opening of new malls, industry analysts note that retailers are also consolidating their operations to cope with increasing business and manpower costs.

Suntec REIT enjoyed almost full occupancy in its retail and office segments in the second quarter. The overall committed occupancy for the retail portfolio stood at 97.6 per cent while that for the office portfolio was 99.4 per cent as of end-June.