First REIT, the SGX healthcare real estate investment trust owned by Indonesia’s Lippo Group, has reported a 0.9% rise in distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0214 for the third quarter of the year.
Distributable income rose 2.2% to S$16.7 million (US$12.3 million) on the back of a 3.3% jump in gross revenue and 3.2% rise in net property income to S$27.8 million and S$27.5 million respectively.
Growth was driven by contributions from Siloam Hospitals Labuan Bajo, as well as higher rental income from existing properties in Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.
“With prudent capital management, First REIT has managed to maintain a low gearing of 32.6% as at 30 September 2017, below the regulatory limit of 45%. This gives us ample debt headroom to carry out more acquisitions to further strengthen our portfolio, to which, the Trust has the right-of-first-refusal to a healthy pipeline of around 40 hospitals from our sponsor, PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk,” said CEO Victor Tan.
For the nine-month period, First REIT’s gross revenue and net property income grew at the same 3.0% to S$82.4 million and S$81.5 million respectively, while distributable income edged up 2.4% to S$49.9 million.
Shares in First REIT today traded up 0.73% to S$1.38.