Ascendas India Trust reports 15% growth in DPU for FY2019
Singapore, 30 January 2020 – Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte. Ltd., the Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust (“a-iTrust” or the “Trust”), has reported the results of a-iTrust for the third quarter and nine-month period ended 31st December 2019 (“3Q FY2019” & “FY2019”).
Mr Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer said, “We are pleased to announce that a-iTrust has delivered a healthy set of results for the quarter and nine-month period ended 31st December 2019. In Singapore Dollars terms, the 3Q FY2019 and FY2019 net property income grew by 8% and 13%1 YoY respectively. Rental income from the completion of Anchor building, higher occupancies and positive rental reversions contributed to the strong performance.
In November 2019, we raised approximately S$150 million of equity through a private placement that was more than four times2 covered, backed by strong support from institutional investors. The Trust’s 3Q FY2019 DPU grew by 4% YoY to 2.12 S¢. Our nine-month FY2019 DPU increased 15%1 YoY to 6.45 S¢.
As at 31st December 2019, total completed floor area for a-iTrust’s portfolio stood at 13.1 million square feet. I am pleased to announce that the development potential at ITPB3 has further increased by 1.1 million square feet to 3.8 million square feet due to revised government regulations. With a total development potential of 7.7 million square feet, coupled with our committed pipeline of forward purchase acquisitions, a-iTrust is poised for further growth in the coming years.”
Financial performance (FY2019 vs Dec 2018 YTD)
In Indian Rupee terms, revenue for the nine-month period ended 31st December 2019 grew by 12%1, to ₹7.7 billion due to incremental income from Anchor building, higher occupancy in aVance Pune and positive rental reversions from existing properties. Total property expenses increased by 7%1 to ₹1.9 billion largely due to an increase in operation and maintenance expenses. These factors have resulted in an increase of 13% in FY2019’s net property income, to ₹5.8 billion.
DPU for the nine-month period ended 31st December 2019 increased by 15% YoY to 6.45 S₵ mainly due to increased net property income and higher construction funding interest income from Arshiya, AURUM IT SEZ, aVance 5 & 6, aVance A1 & A2 and BlueRidge 3.
Portfolio performance & capital management
a-iTrust’s committed portfolio occupancy remained healthy at 99% as at 31st December 2019. The Trust’s portfolio valuation increased by 7% to S$2.1 billion as compared to 31st March 2019. This is driven mainly by higher portfolio rent, development gains and lower capitalisation rates.
Due to the November 2019 private placement, as at 31st December 2019, a-iTrust’s gearing ratio decreased to 28% from 33% as at 30th September 2019. Based on the gearing limit of 45%, the Trust has a total debt headroom of S$802 million. 89% of the Trust’s borrowings are effectively on a fixed-interest rate basis. 71% of these total borrowings were hedged into Indian Rupees.
Growth Initiatives
Construction of MTB 5, a 0.7 million square feet multi-tenanted building in ITPB, is underway and more than half the structure works have been completed. The building has been 100% pre-leased to a leading IT services company and is expected to complete by the second half of 2020.
Summary of a-iTrust Results
|
3Q FY20194 (3-month period ended 31 Dec 2019) |
3Q FY18/19 (3-month period ended 31 Dec 2018) |
YoY Change (%) |
FY20194 (9-month period ended 31 Dec 2019) |
FY18/19 (12-month period ended 31 Mar 2019) |
Dec 2018 YTD (9-month period ended 31 Dec 2018) |
YoY Change1 (%) |
|
[a] |
[b] |
([a] – [b])/[b] |
[c] |
[d] |
[e] |
([c] – [e])/[e] |
In Indian Rupee (“INR/₹”): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total property income (million) |
2,653 |
2,361 |
12 |
7,728 |
9,389 |
6,930 |
12 |
Net property income (million) |
1,886 |
1,779 |
6 |
5,827 |
6,999 |
5,159 |
13 |
Income available for distribution (million) |
1,306 |
1,239 |
5 |
3,881 |
4,357 |
3,334 |
16 |
Income to be distributed (million) |
1,176 |
1,115 |
5 |
3,493 |
3,921 |
3,001 |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In Singapore Dollar (“SGD/S$”): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total property income (million) |
51.5 |
44.9 |
15 |
150.3 |
182.0 |
134.7 |
12 |
Net property income (million) |
36.6 |
33.9 |
8 |
113.4 |
135.7 |
100.4 |
13 |
Income available for distribution (million) |
25.4 |
23.6 |
7 |
75.5 |
84.5 |
64.9 |
16 |
Income to be distributed (million) |
22.8 |
21.2 |
7 |
67.9 |
76.0 |
58.4 |
16 |
Income to be distributed (DPU5) (S¢) |
2.12 |
2.05 |
4 |
6.45 |
7.33 |
5.63 |
15 |
Exchange rate movements
|
3Q FY2019 |
3Q FY18/19 |
Variance (%) |
FY2019 |
FY18/19 |
Dec 2018 YTD |
Variance (%) |
Average SGD/INR exchange rate6 |
51.5 |
52.5 |
(1.9%)7 |
51.4 |
51.5 |
51.3 |
0.2%8 |
1 FY2019 is compared against the corresponding nine-month period from 1st April 2018 to 31st December 2018.
2 Based on initial Private Placement base size of S$100 million.
3 International Tech Park Bangalore
4 a-iTrust financial year end has changed from 31st March to 31st December as announced on 19th July 2019.
5 Distribution per unit (income to be distributed) in Singapore Dollar terms.
6 Average exchange rates used in the income statement.
7 The Singapore Dollar depreciated by 1.9% against the Indian Rupee.
8 The Singapore Dollar appreciated by 0.2% against the Indian Rupee.