Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) has announced that its unitholders’ distribution for the fourth quarter of 2010 reached S$23.9 million, up 108 percent over the same period in 2009.
Distribution per unit (DPU) for Q4 2010 stood at 2.16 cents, up 16 percent from Q4 2009.
The trust’s revenue increased 58 percent (S$26.7 million) to S$72.8 million in Q4, while gross profit rose 80 percent to S$39.3 million.
The respective growth in revenue and gross profit was attributed to the contribution of S$30.3 million and S$19.2 million from the 28 assets the company acquired in October. This was partially offset by the respective decline in revenue and gross profit of S$4.6 million and S$1.6 million from the divestment of Ascott Beijing and Country Woods Jakarta.
“It was anticipated in the forecast that following the yield accretive acquisition of the 28 Asia and Europe properties last year, Ascott Reit’s performance would improve. Ascott Reit has returned a DPU that is 17 percent higher than the forecast. This performance entrenches our track record in acquiring quality and yield accretive assets for the benefit of our unitholders,” said Mr. Lim Jit Poh, Chairman of Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited (ARTML).
Ascott Reit will continue to seek yield-accretive acquisitions in Singapore, China, Vietnam and the UK, as well as explore opportunities in new emerging markets, added Mr. Lim.
Mr. Chong Kee Hiong, Chief Executive Officer of ARTML, said, “Ascott Reit’s better performance in Q4 2010 and FY 2010 were mainly led by the Singapore and UK markets. Both these markets also performed better than forecast, as the continued strength of the markets allowed our Singapore and UK properties to achieve higher rental rates than assumed in the forecast.”