Ascendas India Trust has reported a 20 per cent drop in its distribution per unit to 1.20 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended June.
This was mainly due to a weaker rupee which helped to reduce the trust’s distributable income by 19 per cent to S$9.2 million.
In the past year, the Singapore dollar has risen 20 per cent against the Indian rupee.
Still, the trust’s total property income rose by 3 per cent to S$32 million in the latest three-month period, while net property income increased 1 per cent to S$17.8 million.
“The underlying portfolio performance remained strong, but we continue to face macro headwinds in the form of unfavourable currency movements,” Jonathan Yap, CEO of the Trustee-Manager, said in a statement.
The trust owns IT business parks in India and is constructing a new 600,000 square foot multi-tenanted building in International Tech Park Bangalore to tap the growing out-sourcing market.
The trust is also on the lookout for attractive acquisition opportunities, its statement said.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 24 Jul 2012