Sunway REIT 1Q property income rises 5.8% to RM77m

by **Cals** Tue 29 Oct 2013, 23:53

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Jeffrey Tan of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 29 October 2013 18:50

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust’s net property income (NPI) rose 5.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM77 million from RM73 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2013.

Similarly, 1Q revenue climbed 0.4% y-o-y to RM100 million from RM99.8 million.

In a filing to the stock exchange, Sunway REIT attributed the higher NPI growth mainly to revenue contribution from Sunway Medical Centre.

It also constituted the higher NPI to lower utilities expenses arising from energy savings upon completion of chiller retrofit exercise as well as lower operating expenses at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall.

As for the slightly larger revenue, Sunway REIT commended the contribution by Sunway Medical Centre, which was acquired in Dec 2012, and healthy growth from major retail assets, namely Sunway Pyramid and Sunway Carnival Shopping Mall.

Despite so, it said the performance was dampened by lower contribution from the hospitality segment.

Looking ahead, Dato Jeffrey Ng, CEO of Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd, said, “We observe the operating environment in the hospitality and office segments are getting more competitive. Distribution per unit (DPU) may be lower due to the softer outlook for the hotel and office segments.

Additionally, Ng said his focus for this financial year is to ensure that the massive asset enhancement initiative plans are well executed in order to deliver the growth in DPU in the coming years.