For the uninitiated, there are a total of 5 REITs and business trusts that are sponsored by CapitaLand Investment Limited (SGX: 9CI), and they are:
- CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (SGX: A17U), which invests in business space and industrial properties
- CapitaLand Ascott Trust (SGX: HMN), which invests in hotels and serviced residences
- CapitaLand China Trust (SGX: AU8U), which invests in retail, office, and logistics properties in China
- CapitaLand India Trust (SGX: CY6U), which invests in industrial, logistics, and data centre properties in India
- CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (SGX: C38U), which invests in retail and office properties
Out of the 5, I’m invested in 3, namely CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand India Trust, and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (you can check out a list of all the companies I’m invested in here.)
Among the 3, CapitaLand India Trust is the first to release its business update for the 1st quarter of FY2025 earlier this evening (24 April), followed by CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tomorrow (25 April) morning, and then CapitaLand Ascendas REIT next Monday (28 April) evening.
Before I begin, a quick introduction to CapitaLand India Trust, or CLINT – it invests in properties to capitalise on the growing IT industry, industrial and logistics asset classes, and new economy asset classes such as data centres.
As of 31 December 2024, the business trust’s portfolio comprises 10 IT business parks, 3 industrial facilities, 1 logistics park, and 4 data centre developments located in 5 key Indian cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune), valued at S$3.7 billion.
Recently, I’ve had the honour of meeting up with CLINT’s CEO, Mr Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, as well as the CFO, Mr Cheah Ying Soon, in-person, where they shared with me the business trust’s growth plans. I’ve also taken the opportunity to seek their clarifications on some of the concerns that fellow readers of this blog have. In case you’ve missed out the post, you can check it out here.
In this post, you’ll find my review of CLINT’s latest financial figures, portfolio occupancy and debt profile:
Financial Figures (1Q FY2024 vs. 1Q FY2025)
| 1Q FY2024 | 1Q FY2025 | % Variance | |
| Total Property Income (S$’mil) | $66.9m | $74.6m | +11.5% |
| Total Property Expenses (S$’mil) | $17.5m | $19.5m | +11.4% |
| Net Property Income (S$’mil) | $49.4m | $55.1m | +11.5% |
CLINT’s total property income and net property income saw a stable growth (by 11.5% year on year) to S$76 million and $55.1 million respectively, as a result of higher rental income from existing properties and income contributions from newly acquired properties in 2024, such as aVance II, Pune and Building Q2.
In Indian Rupee-terms, CLINT’s total property income and net property income both improved by 14% year on year.
Portfolio Occupancy Profile (4Q FY2024 vs. 1Q FY2025)
In the table below, you will find a comparison of CLINT’s portfolio occupancy profile for the current quarter under review (i.e., 1Q FY2025 ended 31 March 2025) compared against that reported in the previous quarter 3 months ago (i.e., 4Q FY2024 ended 31 December 2024):
| 4Q FY2024 | 1Q FY2025 | |
| Portfolio Occupancy (%) | 95.0% | 92.0% |
| Portfolio WALE (years) | 3.5 years | 3.4 years |
Portfolio occupancy fell by 3 percentage points (pp) to 92%, due to declines recorded in the following properties:
- ITPB in Bangalore (from 97% in 4Q FY2024 to 95% in 1Q FY2025)
- ITPC in Chennai (from 91% in 4Q FY2024 to 86% in 1Q FY2025)
- Building Q1 in Mumbai (from 98% in 4Q FY2024 to 97% in 1Q FY2025)
- ITPP-H in Pune (from 100% in 4Q FY2024 to 91% in 1Q FY2025)
Apart from ITPC (86%), aVance Hyderabad (86%), and aVance II, Pune (64%), the other properties have occupancy rates of above 90%.
Lease expiries are also well spread-out over the years – in the remaining 3 quarters of FY2025, only 7% of leases are due for renewal. Between FY2026 and FY2028 (a period of 3 financial years), around 19% of leases will be due for renewal each year, with the remaining 36% of leases will only be due for renewal in FY2029 or later.
Finally, a positive rental reversion of +9% has been achieved for new and/or renewed leases for its properties in Bangalore (+16%), Chennai (+10%), Hyderabad (+2%), and Pune (+1%).
Debt Profile (4Q FY2024 vs. 1Q FY2025)
Similar to how I have reviewed CLINT’s portfolio occupancy profile in the previous quarter, I will also be doing a comparison of its debt profile by comparing the statistics reported for the current quarter under review (i.e., 1Q FY2025) against that reported in the previous quarter 3 months ago (i.e., 4Q FY2024), as follows:
| 4Q FY2024 | 1Q FY2025 | |
| Aggregate Leverage (%) | 38.5% | 41.5% |
| Interest Coverage Ratio (times) | 2.6x | 2.5x |
| Average Cost of Debt (%) | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| % of Borrowings Hedged to Fixed Rates (%) | 73.3% | 84.5% |
In my opinion, its latest debt profile statistics compared to that reported in the previous quarter was a mixed bag – while aggregate leverage climbed by 3pp to 41.5%, and interest coverage ratio inching down slightly to 2.5x, but its average cost of debt remained stable at 6.0%, and there’s a huge jump in terms of the percentage of borrowings hedged to fixed rates (from 73.3% in 4Q FY2024 to 84.5% in 1Q FY2025).
Debt maturity is also well spread out, with about 16% (or $299.8 million) of borrowings due to refinancing in the remaining 3 quarters of FY2024, an average of 15.9% of borrowings due for refinancing each year between FY2026 and FY2028 (a period of 3 financial years), with the remaining 36% of borrowings due for refinancing only in FY2029 or later.
Closing Thoughts
While its good to note that CLINT’s financial results (in terms of its total property income and net property income) both improved by a low double-digit percentage in Indian Rupees as well as in the Singapore Dollar, but slight negatives are seen in terms of its portfolio occupancy (where it fell by 3pp compared to the previous quarter to 92%) and aggregate leverage (where it increased by 3pp to 41.5%).
Despite of that, in terms of the occupancy rate of its properties, apart from aVance II, Pune (where it has an occupancy rate of 64%), the other properties in its portfolio have an occupancy rate of at least 80% – which I consider to be quite strong.
Also, as far as its aggregate leverage is concerned, even though it has climbed to slightly higher than 40%, but its still a distance away from the limit of 50% (and a debt headroom of S$757 million) which it has set for itself.
Finally, as the management of CLINT declares a distribution payout to the unitholders on a half-yearly basis, there are no distribution payouts being declared this time round.
With that, I have come to the end of my review of CLINT’s latest business update for the 1st quarter of FY2025. As always, I hope you’ve found the contents presented within useful. At the same time, do take note that all the opinions you have read above are purely mine which I’m sharing for educational purposes only. They do not constitute any buy or sell calls for the business trust’s units. Please 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 CapitaLand India Trust.
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