Sasseur REIT income increased 19.7% to $21.6m in Q2 2021

This is due to active leasing activities and improvement in operating performance. 

Sasseur Real Estate Investment Trust (Sasseur REIT) posted a 19.7% year-on-year (YoY) in distributable income to $21.7m during the second quarter, from $18.2m in the same period last year.

For the first half, it recorded a 32.8% YoY increase in distributable income to $45.4m from $34.2m in the same period last year, according to its manager, Sasseur Asset Management Pte. Ltd. (SAMPL).

Sasseur REIT, which owns four retail outlets in China, saw a 47.9% YoY growth in the first half to RMB2.03b, with Sasseur Chongqing Liangjiang Outlets posting the highest YoY growth of 64.1%.

Its entrusted management agreements rental income for the second quarter rose 3.5% YoY to RMB145.8m from RMB140.9m in 2020. For the first half, it rose 13.1% to $303.2m from $268.1m in the same period last year.

SAMPL CEO Cecilia Tan said the strong results can be traced to the active leasing activities which increase the representation of highly sought-after brands, improvement in operating performance, and lower interest expenses following the completion of the loan refinancing exercise in September 2020.

“The better performance was underpinned by the REIT’s resilient business model and China’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to optimize asset performance through carefully curated promotional programmes and targeted Asset Enhancement Initiative at the individual outlets to enhance traffic flow, increase shopper appeal and experience,” she said.

Sasseur REIT’s portfolio occupancy in the four outlets stood at 92.5% in the second quarter, with VIP membership of 2.37m as of 30 June, which is 5.3% higher compared to 31 March 2021.