Keppel-KBS US REIT's NPI climbed 27% to $49.2m in H1

It was supported by its acquisition of The Westpark Portfolio and Maitland Promenade I.

Keppel-KBS US REIT’s (KORE) net property income (NPI) rose jumped 27% to $49.2m (US$36.2m) in H1 from $38.7m (US$28.5m), an announcement revealed.

Distribution per unit (DPU) during the period was $0.041 (US$0.03), translating to an annualised distribution yield of 7.9%.

Distributable income to unitholders of $33.7m (US$24.8m) for H1 was also 30.9% YoY higher. Gross revenue climbed 26.7% YoY to $79.8m (US$58.7m) for 1H 2019, largely due to the contributions from the acquisitions of The Westpark Portfolio in November 2018 and Maitland Promenade I, as well as higher recoveries income and straight-line rent for the IPO Portfolio, partially offset by the absence of compensation income recognised in H1 2018.

Property expenses edged up 26.3% YoY to $30.6m (US$22.5m), thanks to the enlarged portfolio. There were also higher recoverable expenses such as repairs and maintenance and property taxes and other property expenses such as amortisation of lease commissions and additional expenses incurred for snow removal in the same period for the IPO portfolio.

However, H1 net income before tax crashed 40.5% YoY to $20.7m (US$15.2m) as tax expense of US$3.6m grew due to higher deferred taxes recognised from tax depreciation of the investment properties as well as higher current taxes for the Barbados entities due to the higher corporate tax rates. As a result, net income plunged 50.8% to $15.8m (US$11.6m).