SPH REIT's NPI down 1.9% to $40.98m in Q4

DPU inched up 0.7% to $0.143.

Singapore Press Holdings Real Estate Investment Trust (SPH REIT) saw its net property income (NPI) slip 1.9% YoY in its FY2018 Q4 to $40.98m, an announcement revealed. Its gross revenue hit $52.96m, up 0.2% YoY.

Meanwhile, distribution per unit (DPU) grew 0.7% to $0.143

For its FY2018 which ended in August, NPI fell 1.2% YoY to $166m from $168m in FY2017. Meanwhile, revenue and DPU inched up 0.4% and 0.2% YoY to $211.8m and $0.554, respectively.

According to the firm, retail mall Paragon’s rental reversion fell 3.7% for new and renewed leases cumulatively for FY2018.

“Earlier leases were committed during the retail sales downturn, however, with the recovery in retail sales in the second half of 2017, the cumulative decline was moderated during the financial year,” the firm explained.

Meanwhile, international tourist arrivals and improvement in consumer sentiments boosted Paragon’s visitor traffic by 2.7% to 18.8 million. Tenant sales grew by 2.7% to $693 million with lower occupancy cost of 18.3% YoY.

For the Clementi Mall, rental reversion grew 3% amidst the renewal of 5.9% of the mall’s net lettable area. It also witnessed high visitor traffic of 29.9 million whilst tenant sales grew by 2.2% to S$230 million with occupancy cost of 16.2%.

“The resilient performance for five years since listing in 2013 amid retail sales downturn, is a testament to our long-standing philosophy of partnership with our tenants for mutual success,” SPH REIT Management CEO Susan Leng said.