Singapore Daily Bulletin – 25/01/13

Mapletree Commercial Trust Posts DPU Of 1.667 Cents
Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) posted a 16.7 percent jump in distribution per unit (DPU) at 1.667 cents for the fiscal third quarter ended 31 December 2012. The amount was also an increase of 26.5 percent over the Forecast DPU of 1.318 cents. Distributable income for the quarter was $31.2 million on the back of net property income of $39.5 million. ““We have grown MCT’s revenue and net property income by about 12 percent and 17 percent year on year for 3Q13 with growth contributed from all three assets (VivoCity, Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront and PSA Building). We are also pleased that, in December 2012, monthly sales at VivoCity crossed the $100 million mark for the first time,” said Amy Ng chief executive officer of Mapletree Commercial Trust Management. Unitholders can expect to receive their distribution on 27 February.

Significance: As at 31 December 2012, MCT’s portfolio occupancy stood high at 98.8 percent. In addition, the trust’s private placement dated 24 January 2013 has also garnered strong participation from new and existing institutional. Based on the total number of 192.3 million of new units, the placement was approximately 2.9 times over-subscribed.

KepCorp Announced Keppel Reit Shares Distribution In Its Special Dividend
A special dividend in specie distribution of Keppel Reit (K-REIT) units have been announced by Keppel Corporation (KepCorp). It will issue one K-REIT unit for every five KepCorp shares, which is equivalent to $0.274, as a special dividend in specie to its shareholders. Totalling the interim dividend of $0.18 per share and a proposed dividend of $0.27 a share, the conglomerate’s distribution for the year will be $0.724, against FY11’s $0.43. Factoring this specie issue, the public float of K-REIT will increase from 23.2 percent to 34 percent. Although its latest quarter reflected poorer performance in its yards division, its net profit for FY12 still grew 15 percent to $2.24 billion from the $1.95 billion in FY11. This dividend in specie will be subject to shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting, which is likely to be held after K-REIT closes its books.

Significance: The dividend in specie issue enables the K-REIT units to be more widely traded. Essentially, shareholders have the sole discretion to decide to keep the K-REIT units which are dividend yielding in nature, or trade it on the open market.

Top Bid Offered By Chip Eng Seng For Yishun Site
A top bid of $794.44 per square foot per plot ratio (psfppr), which translates to $212.1 million, has been offered by a unit of Chip Eng Seng Corp (Chip Eng Seng) for a mixed commercial and residential development site at the corner of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Avenue 9. This sum was 9.5 percent higher than the second highest bidder of $725.81 psfppr, or a sum of $193.78 million, which was a bid from a joint venture between Far East Organisation and its listed vehicle Far East Orchard. Chip Eng Seng’s bid was the highest of the 13 bids received at the state tender on 24 January 2013. According to estimates by the government, the residential component of this development would yield a relatively modest 160 homes. Although market watchers are mindful of the property cooling measures rolled out by the government on 12 January 2013, Chip Eng Seng mentioned that it hopes to be able to sell the residential units at below $1,000 psf on average, assuming market conditions prevail.

Significance: Absence of new retail facilities at the part of where the Yishun site is puts the developer of building a new retail centre catering to residents in the vicinity in a very positive position. If the bid for Chip Eng Seng’s bid goes through, it will very likely be able to benefit from this unique position of the development.