Mapletree Industrial Trust has raised its distribution to unitholders for its fiscal third-quarter by 7.4 per cent from a year earlier, thanks to higher rentals and improved occupancy rates at some of its properties.
Distribution per unit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 2.32 Singapore cents, compared with 2.16 Singapore cents in same period last year, the real-estate investment trust said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange.
Gross revenue for the period was S$69.2 million, up from S$65.7 million, it said. Net property income for the period was S$49.1 million, rising from S$45.6 million.
“Barring any shocks to the Singapore economy, rents for generic factory space and business parks are expected to continue to hold firm in the near term,” the trust said in the filing. “In the longer term, the large pipeline supply of industrial space will exert downward pressure on rents.”
The trust, which owns 81 properties worth S$2.7 billion as of March 2012, also doesn’t expect the new seller’s stamp duty for industrial properties, imposed this month, to have “any significant impact on [Mapletree Industrial Trust] as its properties are generally long-term investment assets.”
Source : Today – 22 Jan 2013