Singapore Stocks to Watch: Clar, Clas, Parkway Life Reit, Lendlease Global Reit, FHT, Sabana Reit, Digital Core Reit

The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (Feb 2):

Rising interest rates weighed on CapitaLand Ascendas Reit (Clar), as the business and industrial property player saw distribution per unit (DPU) fall 6.1 per cent year on year to 7.441 Singapore cents for the six months ended Dec 31, 2023.

The DPU decline came even as the Reit’s H2 gross revenue rose 11 per cent to S$761.7 million, and net property income (NPI) was up 4.6 per cent to S$514.3 million.

For FY2023 overall, Clar’s DPU was down 4 per cent year on year to 15.16 cents, on the back of a 1.4 per cent fall in the amount available for distribution to S$654.4 million. The Reit attributed this to higher interest expenses, amid the rising rate environment.

CAPITALAND Ascott Trust (Clas) is divesting Citadines Mount Sophia Singapore for S$148 million in a deal that is estimated to complete in the first quarter of 2024.

On Friday (Feb 2), its managers said the consideration is 19.4 per cent above the 154-unit serviced residence’s book value as at end-2023.

It also represents a divestment of “close to S$1 million per key, which is a significant premium to book value”, said the managers’ chief executive Serena Teo.

RECENT acquisitions of nursing homes lifted Parkway Life Reit’s distribution per unit (DPU) by 2.1 per cent to 7.48 cents, for the six months ended Dec 31, 2023.

The Reit’s acquisition of five nursing homes in September 2022, and two more in Osaka, Japan in October 2023, helped boost H2 gross revenue by 4.7 per cent to S$73.1 million.

The Reit – which has 63 healthcare properties in Singapore, Japan and Malaysia – also enjoyed higher rent from its Singapore properties, under new master lease agreements that commenced in August 2022.

Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Lendlease Reit) distribution per unit (DPU) fell 14.5 per cent to S$0.021 for its first half ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$0.0245 the year before.

The lower DPU was primarily driven by higher borrowing costs amid the higher interest rates as compared to a year ago.

This was even as gross revenue was up 17.9 per cent on the year to S$119.9 million for the half-year period, from S$101.7 million in the year-ago period.

FRASERS Hospitality Trust (FHT) saw an increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) across its portfolios in the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2023, as tourism demand continued to show “remarkable resilience”.

FHT is a stapled group comprising Frasers Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust and Frasers Hospitality Business Trust.

The stapled group observed “sustained recovery” in its markets of Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, Japan and Malaysia, the managers said in a business update on Thursday (Feb 1).

The manager of Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) announced on Thursday (Feb 1) that it would convene the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) requisitioned by a group of activist investors.

The group of unitholders, who call themselves the Sabana Growth Internalisation Committee (SGIC), are led by activist investor Quarz Capital.

The committee had sought in December to convene an EGM to pass 12 resolutions to direct the Reit’s trustee on the internalisation of the Reit manager.

Data centre landlord Digital Core Reit on Thursday (Feb 1) announced a 7.3 per cent fall in distribution per unit (DPU) to US$0.0178 for the six months ended Dec 31, 2023.

Its H2 gross revenue fell 10.4 per cent to US$49.2 million, while net property income (NPI) was down 17.9 per cent to US$27.9 million.