The owner of Australia’s Westfield shopping centres, Scentre Group (SCG), has warned shareholders of a 10% fall in the value of its A$56bn portfolio ahead of its earnings set for release later this month.
Scentre owns 42 assets across Australia and New Zealand, offering more than 3.8m sq.m. of retail space and home to over 12,000 retailers.
“Scentre Group expects the carrying value of the property portfolio, at 30 June 2020, will reduce by approximately 10% from the carrying value at 31 December 2019,” the A-REIT said.
“This is principally due to the estimated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The group said it expected net operating cashflow to exceed A$250m for the first half of 2020, with A$4.4bn of liquidity on hand. (Read more)
Scentre Group shares finished trading down 2.29% at A$ 1.92.
| Index | Change | Value at close |
|---|---|---|
| S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT | -0.59% | 1,222.20 |
| S&P/ASX 200 | +0.68% | 6,042.20 |
| FTSE ST REITS | -0.22% | 844.94 |
| STI | +1.04% | 2,559.10 |
| Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT | -1.13% | 1,676.01 |
| Nikkei 225 | -0.43% | 22,418.15 |
| Hang Seng REIT | -0.49% | 5,446.45 |
| Hang Seng | -0.69% | 24,930.58 |
Singapore: Prime US REIT grows income in US office space
Singapore-listed Prime US REIT (OXMU) grew net property income to US$47.5m during the first half of 2020, outperforming its forecast by 7.6% for the period, according to its earnings.
The REIT, which listed on the SGX in July last year, made a net profit of US$12m for the six months to end-June 2020, and set its distribution per unit at 3.52 cents per share.
Prime owns a US$1.42bn portfolio comprising 12 prime office properties located across ten primary markets in the US.
“Prime’s well-diversified portfolio is exposed to strategic markets that continue to attract large corporations but have little to no new office supply,” the trust said.
“The favourable locations of PRIME’s highly amenitised assets within these markets are expected to continue to benefit through the medium-term.” (Read more)
Prime US REIT stocks closed 0.62% higher at S$0.80.
Hong Kong: Yuexiu REIT income falls 10% as China recovers
Yuexiu REIT (405) recorded a 10.3% year-on-year fall in net property income to RMB 653.8m during the first half of 2020, according to its 1H earnings.
The REIT, which owns a diversified portfolio across China including the GZIFC office, retail and hotel complex in Guangzhou, reported a net loss of RMB 212.1m for the six months to end-June 2020, down 129% from the same period last year.
Yuexiu set its distribution per unit at RMB 0.0990, or HK$ 0.1098, per security for the six-month period.
The value of the trust’s portfolio held steady, edging just 1.04% lower to RMB 34.6bn during the first half.
“At present, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be effectually controlled in China, with life, work and production gradually returning to normal,” the REIT said.
“Yuexiu REIT looks for the industrial momentum of the office building business formats in each city, and implement customers positioning with the ‘Four Icons’ focusing on industries, types of business, products and services.” (Read more)
Shares in Yuexiu REIT closed 1.47% lower at HK$3.35.
Singapore: AIMS APAC REIT set to raise S$125m
AIMS APAC REIT (O5RU) plans to raise S$125m through the sale of its series 002 5.65% perpetual securities under its S$750m multicurrency debt issuance programme.
The S-REIT said the issue price would be 100% of the principal amount of the series 002 perpetual securities, with no fixed redemption date.
AIMS intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including refinancing, general working capital, capital expenditure and investments.
United Overseas Bank has been appointed as the sole dealer of the issue. (Read more)