Ascendas REIT continues their ascent to stability

A purchase fully paid in cash aggregates A-REIT's leverage to be around 36% after factoring in revaluation gains.

The company's operating performance is likely to stay resilient in the coming quarters, with A-REIT's Singapore properties achieving positive rental reversions of 2.6-12.5% YTD upon renewal of existing leases.

Here's more from the OCBC Investment Research:

Ascendas REIT (A-REIT) reported that the acquisition of the Cintech properties was completed on 29 Mar at a total consideration cost of S$185.5m. No consideration units were issued as its sponsor Ascendas Land had indicated that it did not wish to receive any equity consideration.

As a result, the purchase consideration was fully paid in cash by way of internal resources and drawdown of debt. We estimate A-REIT’s aggregate leverage to be around 36% after factoring in revaluation gains for its portfolio properties. We also note that A-REIT’s Singapore properties continued to achieve positive rental reversions of 2.6-12.5% YTD upon renewal of its existing leases.

This is in line with our view that A-REIT’s operating performance is likely to stay resilient in the coming quarters. We now factor in the acquisition of Cintech properties and portfolio revaluation into our forecasts. We also re-jig our DDM model assumptions (cost of equity at 7.5%, up from 7.0% previously) and roll over our valuation to FY13. This raises our fair value marginally from S$2.30 to S$2.31. Maintain BUY.