Parkway Life Reit stays upbeat as Q3 DPU rises 12%

PARKWAY Life Reit yesterday reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.91 cents for the third quarter to Sept 30, up 12.1 per cent from 1.71 cents in the equivalent period last year.

Income available for distribution was $11.6 million, up from $10.3 million last year.

Annualised DPU was 7.65 cents for a 6.59 per cent yield, based on Parkway’s closing price on Sept 30, up from 5.9 per cent last year; or 6.32 per cent based on yesterday’s closing price of $1.21 a unit. For the three months ended June, the Reit posted a 13.7 per cent increase in income available for distribution to $11.4 million, for a DPU of 1.89 cents.

For the third quarter, gross revenue rose 23.6 per cent year-on-year to $16.5 million, from $13.3 million. Net property income was $15.4 million, up from $12.5 million.

For the first nine months, distributable income was $34.3 million, up 14.1 per cent, for DPU of 5.69 cents, up from 5 cents last year.

Chief executive officer of the Reit’s manager Yong Yean Chau said: ‘Despite the challenging market conditions, we continue to enjoy strong growth quarter after quarter.

‘We remain committed to sharpening our focus on investment and asset management and seek to execute on timely acquisition opportunities at the appropriate time, to take PLife Reit to its next level of growth.’

Parkway Life owns the Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, and East Shore hospitals in Singapore, and 10 assets located in Japan, including nursing homes and a pharmaceutical product distributing and manufacturing facility.

Yesterday, Parkway said it was issuing 272,262 new units to its manager Parkway Trust Management, at an average price of $1.11 as payment of 20 per cent of the manager’s fees for the third quarter.

‘While there have been positive signs of an economic recovery, we believe that there are still uncertainties in the market.

‘However, given the defensive nature of PLife Reit and the fact that 96 per cent of our total portfolio has downside revenue protection, we remain optimistic about our growth in the medium to long term,’ said Mr Yong.

Source: Business Times, 6 Nov 2009