Following its annual general meeting (AGM) last Tuesday (on 13 July 2021, and you can check out a summary I have written here in case you’ve missed out), blue-chip logistics REIT in Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX:M44U) released its financial results for the first quarter of the financial year 2021/22 ended 30 June 2021 after market hours on Monday (19 July 2021.)
The REIT is one of those that has continued to report its full financial results on a quarterly basis (something I prefer as a unitholder), and it is also one that has continued its quarterly distribution payout to its unitholders (another aspect that I desire.) In today’s post, you will find my review of the logistics REIT’s latest financial results, portfolio occupancy and debt profile, along with its distribution per unit to unitholders.
Let’s begin:
Financial Results (Q1 FY2020/21 vs. Q1 FY2021/22)
The following table are some of the key financial statistics to take note of:
Q1 FY2020/21 | Q1 FY2021/22 | % Variation | |
Gross Revenue (S$’mil) | $132.4m | $163.7m | +23.7% |
Property Operating Expenses (S$’mil) | $13.5m | $19.6m | +44.7% |
Net Property Income (S$’mil) | $118.8m | $144.2m | +21.3% |
Distributable Income to Unitholders (S$’mil) | $77.8m | $92.7m | +19.1% |
As a unitholder of the REIT, it is always pleasant to see yet another improved set of results reported.
The improvements in its gross revenue can be attributed to higher revenue generated from its existing properties, contributions from its acquisitions in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and India (all of which completed in FY2020/21), along with the completed redevelopment of Mapletree Ouluo Logistics Park Phase 2 in Q1 FY2020/21. This also resulted in REIT’s net property income recording a 21.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) improvement to S$144.2m.
In-line with the property expenses incurred by the newly acquired properties, its property operating expenses saw a 44.7% jump compared to last year.
Finally, its distributable amount to unitholders also went up by 19.1% to S$92.7m, even though the amount was spread across an enlarged unit base due to equity fund raising completed last year. Another thing to note is that the amount distributable to its unitholders in Q1 FY2020/21 was inclusive of a divestment gain of S$4.7m, which tapered to S$1.8m in the current quarter under review (i.e. Q1 FY2021/22.)
Portfolio Occupancy Profile (Q4 FY2020/21 vs. Q1 FY2021/22)
Moving on, let us take a look at the REIT’s portfolio occupancy profile, where I will be comparing its latest portfolio occupancy statistics for Q1 FY2021/22 ended 30 June 2021 against that recorded in the previous quarter 3 months ago – i.e. Q4 FY2020/21 ended 31 March 2021, to find out whether or not its portfolio occupancy profile have improved, deteriorated, or stayed somewhat the same:
Q4 FY2020/21 | Q1 FY2021/22 | |
Portfolio Occupancy (%) | 97.5% | 97.8% |
Rental Reversion (%) | +2.4% | +2.2% |
Portfolio WALE (by NLA – in Years) | 3.6 years | 3.8 years |
Personally, I felt that the REIT’s portfolio occupancy profile have remained resilient – in that its portfolio occupancy rate have improved compared to the previous quarter; the same can also be said for its portfolio weighted average lease expiry (WALE) by net lettable area (NLA).
Also, I’m encouraged to see that the REIT has managed to record a positive rental reversion for leases renewed or replaced despite the tough economic environment (no thanks to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic) – from my understanding, this was mainly attributable to Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Debt Profile (Q4 FY2020/21 vs. Q1 FY2021/22)
Whenever I review a REIT’s performance, apart from its financial figures and its portfolio occupancy profile, I also look at its debt profile – and just like in my review of the REIT’s portfolio occupancy profile, in this section, I will also be comparing the key statistics recorded for the current quarter under review (i.e. Q1 FY2021/22 ended 30 June 2021) against that recorded in the previous quarter 3 months ago (i.e. Q4 FY2020/21 ended 31 March 2021) to find out whether it has improved, deteriorated, or stayed more or less the same:
Q4 FY2020/21 | Q1 FY2021/22 | |
Aggregate Leverage (%) | 38.4% | 38.2% |
Interest Coverage Ratio (times) | 5.1x | 5.2x |
Average Term to Debt Maturity (years) | 3.8 years | 3.7 years |
Average Cost of Debt (%) | 2.2% | 2.2% |
Looking at the statistics from the table above, I’m sure you can agree with me that its debt profile have continued to remain resilient. The reduction in the REIT’s aggregate leverage is mainly due to lower net translated foreign currency loans as the Japanese Yen, Hong Kong dollar, Australian dollar, as well as the Malaysian Ringgit depreciated against the Singapore dollar during the quarter.
Also, it is good to note that the REIT’s average cost of debt have remained the same compared to the previous quarter.
Distribution Per Unit to Unitholders (Q1 FY2020/21 vs. Q1 FY2021/22)
The following table is the REIT’s distribution per unit to its unitholders for the quarter under review, compared to the same time period last year:
Q1 FY2020/21 | Q1 FY2021/22 | % Variation | |
Distribution Per Unit (S$’cents/unit) | 2.045 cents | 2.161 cents | +5.7% |
If you are a unitholder of the logistics REIT, then you may want to take note of the following dates about its distribution payout:
Ex-Date: 27 July 2021
Record Date: 28 July 2021
Payout Date: 07 September 2021
Closing Thoughts
Personally, there’s nothing not to like about the REIT’s latest ‘report card’ – an improved set of financial results and distribution payout, along with a resilient portfolio occupancy and debt profile.
One thing I particularly like about its latest set of results is that, despite of the tough economic environment , the REIT still managed to maintain a positive rental reversion for new and renewed leases.
With that, I have come to the end of my review of Mapletree Logistics Trust’s latest first quarter results for the financial year 2021/22. As always, I hope you’ve found the contents above useful and before I end, a disclaimer that everything you’ve read above is solely my own opinion and they do not represent any buy or sell recommendations for the REIT’s units. You should always do your own due diligence before you make any investment decisions.
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Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a unitholder of Mapletree Logistics Trust.
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