AIMS Apac Reit&rsquo s manager announced on Monday (Jul 4) in a bourse filing that its plan to acquire the property along 315 Alexandra Road &mdash Sime Darby Business Centre &mdash has fallen through.

 

Both the purchaser and vendor will not be going through with the deal as &ldquo renegotiation of the principal terms and conditions of the acquisition were not concluded&rdquo , said the real estate investment trust&rsquo s (Reit) manager, hence necessary regulatory approvals were not obtained by the target date of Jul 1.

 

Additionally, since the option agreement to purchase the property has lapsed, the Reit will be entitled to a refund of the S$1.02 million option fee it paid earlier, said the manager in the update.

 

The facility is anchored by Sime Darby Property Singapore Limited, a wholly-owned unit of Malaysian property developer Sime Darby Property Berhad. Aims Apac Reit had in January 2021 announced plans to acquire the premium showroom and business-space precinct along Alexandra Road for S$106.6 million.

AIMS Apac Reit : O5RU -0.7% posted a 4.8 per cent fall in its distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.0471 for its second half ended Mar 31, from S$0.0495 a year ago, as distributions to unitholders declined 3.8 per cent on year to S$33.6 million for the period, from S$35 million.

 

The distributions fell largely due to the distributions related to the S$250 million perpetual securities issued in September 2021 for the acquisition of retail company Woolworths&rsquo headquarters in Australia, the manager said on Wednesday (Apr 27).

 

Meanwhile, gross revenue was up 18.9 per cent to S$77.1 million for the half-year period, from S$64.9 million a year ago, while net property income (NPI) for the period also rose 16.6 per cent on year to S$55.5 million, from S$47.6 million.

 

The distribution for the quarter from Jan 1 to Mar 31 will be paid out on Jun 24, after the record date on May 10.

 

As for the full-year period, DPU was up 5.7 per cent on year to S$0.0946, from S$0.0895 a year ago.

 

Its manager said the performance was underpinned by resilient operations of the real estate investment trust&rsquo s (Reit) business park, and logistics and warehouse properties, a continued recovery of the industrial sector, as well as its acquisition of Woolworths HQ.

 

Distributions to unitholders grew 6.3 per cent on year to S$67.2 million for the full-year period. Gross revenue was also 16.1 per cent higher at S$142.4 million, while NPI rose 17.9 per cent to S$103.2 million.

 

Chairman of the manager George Wang said: &ldquo Strategically, we will continue to look for opportunities that offer good investment returns and long-term capital growth, as well as consider recycling assets to generate sustainable income growth for our unitholders.&rdquo

 

As at Mar 31, the Reit&rsquo s portfolio occupancy stood at 97.6 per cent, while weighted average lease expiry stood at 5.05 years.

 

It expects to sustain its healthy portfolio occupancy, as demand for industrial space will likely be supported by resilient e-commerce and logistics sectors as well as Singapore&rsquo s border and economy reopening, the manager said.

AIMS Apac Reit (AA Reit) AIMS APAC Reit: O5RU -2.1% has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0235 for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2021, up 14.6 per cent from a year ago.

 

Unitholders of the real estate investment trust (Reit) can expect to receive the Q3 distribution on Mar 25, 2022, after the record date of Feb 10.

 

In a business update filed to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday (Jan 27) morning, AA Reit' s manager said the higher DPU was supported by the increase in gross revenue, which went up year on year by 14.5 per cent to S$36.8 million from S$32.1 million.

 

The topline' s climb had been supported by the acquisition of the fully-leased Woolworths Headquarters in Sydney, Australia, which commenced revenue contributions on Nov 15, 2021, as well as higher gross revenue from its other properties in Singapore.

 

Net property income also rose 14.8 per cent year on year to S$27.1 million, from S$23.6 million.

 

Meanwhile, portfolio occupancy increased to 97.6 per cent, up 0.3 per cent quarter on quarter and above JTC' s Q3 2021 industrial average of 90.1 per cent. The manager attributed this to the execution of 10 new and 8 renewal leases, representing 48,067 square metres or 6.1 per cent of total net lettable area, as well as a weighted average lease expiry of 4.85 years.

 

AA Reit' s portfolio consists of 29 properties in Singapore and Australia, backed by 198 tenants across multi-tenanted and master leased properties.

 

For the first 9 months ended Dec 31, 2021, distributions to unitholders was S$50.3 million, an increase of 17.7 per cent from the same period the year before. DPU for the 9 months was S$0.071, rising 17.4 per cent from the previous 9 months DPU of S$0.0605.

 

AA Reit' s aggregate leverage as of Dec 31, 2021 was 37.3 per cent, within the aggregate leverage limit of 50 per cent set by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

 

Together with the Reit' s undrawn committed facilities and cash and bank balances of S$237.2 million, AA Reit' s manager said it has the financial flexibility to pursue new acquisition opportunities and asset enhancement initiatives as and when they arise. Its weighted average debt maturity as at end-December 2021 stands at 3.2 years.

 

George Wang, chairman of the manager, said: " We remain firmly focused on executing our strategy of seeking strategic investments, active asset and leasing management, prudent capital and risk management, as well as capital and business partnerships to generate attractive long-term total returns."