CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (SGX: A17U), or CLAR, is Singapore’s first and largest listed business space and industrial REIT, with its investment focus in the following property types:

  • Business Space and Life Science Properties – located in Singapore, suburban locations in Australia, and within leading corporate campus environments in the United States, they include business space for regional corporate headquarters, backroom support offices, research and development facilities, and life science spaces with lab-ready specifications)
  • Logistics Properties – located in Singapore, Australia, the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom, they include single-storey and multi-storey buildings featuring vehicular ramp and/or cargo lift access, with tenants include third-party logistics providers and end-users such as manufacturers, distributors, and trading companies
  • Industrial Properties – located in Singapore, they offer a range of facilities (from basic to premium) to meet the needs of various tenants, and include high specifications properties such as vertical corporate campuses with a higher business space component combined with higher-specifications mixed-use industrial space
  • Data Centre Properties – located in Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Europe, they house computing machines and related hardware equipment, with tenants include international and local enterprises in a range of industries such as financial services, telecommunications, information technology and retail

As of 31 December 20224, CLAR’s portfolio comprises of 225 properties located in Singapore, Australia, the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom/Europe valued at S$16.8 billion.

In terms of the REIT’s portfolio value by geography, 66% is in Singapore, 13% in Australia, 11% in the United States, and the remaining 10% in the United Kingdom/Europe.

On the types of assets, 46% comprises of business space properties, 25% comprises of logistics properties, 20% comprises of industrial properties, 9% comprises of data centre properties, and 8% comprises of life sciences properties.

Following the conclusion of the financial year on 31 December 2024 (i.e., FY2024), CLAR released its latest annual report for 2024 yesterday morning (02 April 2025), and in this post, you will find a summary of key highlights in this report to take note of, together with details of its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM):

Key Highlights in CLAR’s Annual Report 2024

FY2024 Performance Highlights:

  • Gross revenue and net property income reached new highs of S$1.52 billion and S$1.05 billion respectively, contributed by newly acquired properties, as well as newly completed properties in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Singapore in FY2023.
  • Total amount available distribution rose by 2.2% year on year to S$668.8 million despite a moderate increase in borrowing costs due to the high interest rate environment.
  • Distribution Per Unit (DPU) increased by 0.3% year on year to S$0.15205 as a result of a larger unit base (mainly due to part payment of base management fees to the Manager in units).
  • Portfolio occupancy remained at a healthy level of 92.8% (breaking down by geographical locations, the occupancy rate of its Singapore portfolio remained stable at 92.5%, its United States portfolio declined by 1.5 percentage points [pp] to 88.9% mainly due to business space properties in Portland and Raleigh, its Australia portfolio decreased by 6.2pp to 92.5% mainly due to 2 logistic lease expiries in Sydney, and its United Kingdom/Europe portfolio remained high at 99.3%), with an average positive rental reversion of +11.6% attained for leases renewed in the financial year.
  • Portfolio valuation remained stable at S$16.8 billion, as increases in the valuation of the REIT’s properties in Singapore (due to their healthy occupancy and positive rental reversions) was offset by declines in the valuation of its properties in the United States and Australia (due to higher capitalisation rates applied by independent valuers).
  • Gearing stood at a healthy 37.7% (down slightly from 37.9% a year ago, due to the REIT repaying some of its borrowings from divestment proceeds), with 82.7% of debt hedged at fixed rates (which helped to mitigate interest rate volatility), as well as a natural hedge of approximately 76% (which helped to minimise the impact of adverse currency fluctuations). Debt maturities are also well-spread out with an average of about 13-14% of borrowings maturing in each of the next 3 years, which substantially reduces refinancing risks.

Strategic Acquisitions, AEIs, and Divestments:

  • In November 2024, CLAR announced the acquisition of 2 modern logistics properties in the United States located in Charleston, South Carolina [Summerville Logistics Centre], as well as in Indianapolis, Indiana [DHL Indianapolis Logistics Center], within established industrial markets and key logistics hubs at S$248.2 million. Both properties are expected to generate net property income yields at 7.2% and 7.4% respectively.
  • In FY2024, 2 asset enhancement initiatives (AEI) at a total cost of S$3.9 million at Pacific Tech Centre and ONE@Changi City in Singapore were completed, and the 2 properties saw their occupancy rates improved to 89.5% and 99.5% respectively.
  • In March 2025, the S$883 million redevelopment of 1 Science Park Drive was completed, and renamed as 1, 1A, and 1B Science Park Drive. The property has received strong leasing interest from reputable multinational and local companies in the biomedical sciences and technology sectors.
  • Additionally, for FY2025, CLAR’s management target to complete about S$500 million of projects in total, and generate new income streams for the REIT. These projects include (with the estimated completion date in brackets): AEI at Perimeter Two in Raleigh, US (January 2025), 80 Bendemeer Road in Singapore (February 2025), and Aperia Mall in Singapore (4Q 2025), redevelopments at 5 Toh Guan East in Singapore (4Q FY2025), as well as acquisition under development at Summerville Logistics Center in Charleston, US (4Q 2025).
  • On the divestment front, in FY2024, 4 logistics properties in Australia and Singapore were divested for a total sale consideration of S$177 million – a 38% premium, or S$49.1 million, above their total independent market valuation of S$127.9 million.

Progress on Sustainability Agenda:

  • CLAR was included in the FTSE4Good Developed Index and FTSE4Good ASEAN 5 Index effective December 2024.

Details of CLAR’s Upcoming AGM

When? Friday, 25 April 2025
Where? Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Level 3, Begonia Main Ballroom, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956
Time? 3.00pm

The meeting will be held in a wholly physical format, with no options for unitholders to attend virtually.

For those of you who would like to attend the meeting, if your units are in your CDP account, you do not need to pre-register, as verification will be done on the spot; if your units are held in a custodian account, then you’ll need to get in touch with your brokerage to appoint you to attend the meeting as a proxy.

Closing Thoughts

It is a good set of results reported by CLAR for FY2024 – in terms of its financial performances, its gross revenue and net property income reached new highs; this is on top of its portfolio occupancy remaining at a very high level of close to 93%, and gearing ratio at a healthy level of 37.7% (and a very good debt headroom for the REIT to embark on more yield-accretive acquisitions to further improve on its financial performances and distribution payout).

In terms of the REIT’s outlook ahead, the completion of AEI and redevelopment works for the various properties in the coming months ahead will also see a further improvement in its financial performances.

As a unitholder since November 2019 (in fact, CLAR is the second Singapore-listed company I’ve added to my investment portfolio back then; if you are interested to know the list of companies I am invested in, you can check them out here), I am happy with the management constantly looking for ways to grow the REIT organically (through AEI or redevelopment works) as well as inorganically (through acquisitions) over the years – even through the recent 2 years or so when interest rates are at a high level and most of the REITs’ management are scaling down on their acquisition activities significantly. I’m certainly looking forward to more growths made by the REIT’s management in the years to come.

With that, I have come to the end of my update on CLAR’s latest annual report for 2024, where I summarised on some of the important pointers to take note of (for the benefit of those who do not have the time to go through the entire report). Do take note that all the opinions found within are purely mine which I’m sharing for educational purposes only. They do not constitute any buy or sell calls for the REIT’s units. You are strongly encouraged to do your own due diligence before you make any investment decisions.

Related Documents

Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a unitholder of CapitaLand Ascendas REIT.

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