SINGAPORE (Oct 27): The manager of Viva Industrial Trust, the Singapore-focused business park and industrial property trust, has reported 3Q17 DPS increased by 5% to 1.90 cents from 1.81 cents a year ago.
Wilson Ang, CEO of Viva Industrial Trust Management, the manager of VIT, says, “Despite the challenging market conditions, we are delighted to be able to continue delivering a strong set of financial results for 3Q2017 underpinned by VIT’s resilient portfolio.”
Gross revenue for 3Q17 increased 16.8% to $28.3 million largely attributed to the additional revenue contributions of $1.9 million from 6 Chin Bee Avenue and $1.8 million from VBP across its retail and business park units, and its contestable electricity bulk purchase programme. Net property income grew 18.3% to $20.6 million while distributable income rose 13.6% to $17.9 million.
Distribution declared grew by 17.3% to $18.4 million. Based on VIT’s closing price of $0.945 on Sept 29, the 3Q17 annualised DPS of 7.538 cents translates to an annualised distribution yield of 8.0%.
With the completion of the AEI and active marketing, the manager says VIT has achieved committed occupancy of 96.2% for the “white” space at VBP in 3Q17 lifting the overall portfolio occupancy to 90.9% from 88.6% a year ago. The manager had further secured 108,000 sf of new leases to date and renewed 287,000 sf of leases, representing 66.7% of the total leases due for renewal this year.
In its outlook, Viva Industrial Trust Management says demand for industrial space is expected to improve with stronger industrial production.
Based on the advance 3Q2017 GDP estimates, the Singapore economy produced the strongest growth seen in more than three years, with 4.6% growth y-o-y primarily driven by robust performance in the electronics, biomedical manufacturing and precision engineering clusters.
Units in Viva closed at 96 cents on Thursday.
