CapitaLand India Trust reported a first-half distribution per unit of 3.64 Singapore cents, up 8 percent from a year earlier and 18 percent compared with the preceding six-month period, as net property income jumped.
SGX-listed CLINT’s NPI shot up 21 percent year-on-year to S$103.5 million ($77 million) during the first half, while committed occupancy climbed from 93 percent at the end of 2023 to 96 percent at the end of June, the trust’s manager said Monday in a release. Take-up was driven by leasing activities at aVance in Hyderabad’s HITEC City and Building Q1 at Aurum Q Parc in Navi Mumbai.
The results covered the period before CLINT’s July acquisition of Building Q2 at Aurum Q Parc in an $84 million deal, which marked the latest in a string of asset buys for the REIT as it amasses a portfolio of business parks and industrial facilities in Asia’s most populous nation.
“CLINT’s strong operating performance was mainly due to higher rental income from existing properties, positive rent reversion and higher occupancy, and income recognition from properties acquired in FY 2023,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of the manager.
Portfolio Expansion
CLINT’s assets under management grew to S$3.2 billion at the end of June from S$2.7 billion a year earlier, according to the interim results.
The trust entered into a forward purchase agreement with Casa Grande Group in February to acquire three industrial facilities at OneHub Chennai, followed by the March purchase of aVance II in Pune’s Hinjawadi business park hub, resulting in a net fair value gain of S$20.3 million.
In May, CLINT signed a forward purchase agreement with Phoenix Group to acquire IT buildings with a total leasable area of 2.5 million square feet (232,258 square metres) at HITEC City in Hyderabad.
The REIT completed the acquisition of Building Q2 in Aurum Q Parc from local developer Aurum Ventures earlier this month as the second phase of a forward purchase agreement signed in 2018. CLINT took possession of Building Q1 in the IT special economic zone complex for $47 million in 2021, after the property’s 600,000 square feet had been fully leased.
Together, the two phases of Aurum Q Parc add 1.47 million square feet to CLINT’s portfolio, enlarging the collection of properties by 4 percent to a total of 21.8 million square feet.
Mixed Bag for Regional REITs
India and Singapore were bright spots in 2023 as Asia’s overall REIT segment slid 7 percent in market value to $252.1 billion, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report released Monday.
The India market, which comprises four locally listed REITs, saw the steepest rise in value with a 31 percent surge to $9.7 billion. The nation’s first publicly listed retail REIT, Blackstone’s 17-asset Nexus Select Trust, was listed in May 2023 and rose nearly 30 percent in market value in one year from its IPO, Cushman said.
Singapore’s collection of 40 listed trusts also saw growth, rising 4 percent to $75.8 billion in market value. The city-state was the sole top-three market to witness expansion last year, as Japan (58 REITs) dropped 9 percent to $109.4 billion and Hong Kong (11 REITs) tumbled 13 percent to $21 billion.
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