Mapletree Industrial Trust's NPI grew 12.2% to $77.92m in Q1

New revenue contributions from 18 Tai Seng and 30A Kallang Place drove up earnings.

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) started its FY 2019/2020 on a high note after its net property income (NPI) jumped 12.2% YoY to $77.92m in Q1 from $69.46m in the same period last year, an announcement revealed. Its revenue also rose 8.8% YoY from $91.49m to $99.58m.

Distributable income also grew 11.1% YoY from $56.91m to $63.24m, whilst distribution per unit (DPU) edged up 3.3% YoY to $0.031 from $0.03 in Q1 2018.

The firm attributed its strong performance to new revenue contributions from 18 Tai Seng, 30A Kallang Place and Mapletree Sunview 1.

Also read: Tai Seng buy could boost Mapletree Industrial Trust's NPI yield to 6.8%

MIT group’s property portfolio comprises 87 industrial properties in Singapore and 14 data centres in the US (40% interest through the joint venture with Mapletree Investments). The properties in Singapore include flatted factories, hi-tech buildings, business park buildings, stack-up/ramp-up buildings and light industrial buildings. As at 30 June, MIT’s total assets under management (AUM) was $4.8b.

The firm’s average portfolio occupancy improved to 90.8% in Q1 from 90.2% in Q4 FY 2018/2019. The Singapore portfolio occupancy increased to 90.5%, which was largely attributed to the higher occupancy rate registered for the hi-tech buildings segment. Meanwhile, the US portfolio occupancy rate remained unchanged at 97.4%.

According to Tham Kuo Wei, CEO of Mapletree Industrial Trust Management, the firm will be redeveloping the Kolam Ayer 2 flatted factory cluster into a high-tech industrial precinct to unlock value for the portfolio and utilise untapped plot ratio. The project, which is said to cost around $263m, will include a build-to-suit (BTS) facility with a gross floor area (GFA) of about 211,000 sqft for a global medical device company headquartered in Germany. The anchor tenant is said to have committed to fully lease it for 15 years with annual rental escalations.

The seven-storey BTS facility will reportedly account for about 24.4% of the enlarged GFA upon completion in H2 2022.

Also read: Mapletree Industrial Trust's DPU could get 2.5% leg up from Kolam Ayer 2 Cluster redevelopment

As well, MIT’s upgraded data centre at 7 Tai Seng Drive has obtained its temporary occupation permit in early July. The seven-storey data centre, with a GFA of about 256,600 sqft, has been fully leased to Equinix Singapore for an initial lease term of 25 years with annual rental escalations.