Chairman's Statement
|
|
Dear Unitholders,
On behalf of the Board and the
Manager, I am pleased to present
the report of K-REIT Asia for the year
ended 31 December 2008.
In 2008, Singapore's economy grew
by 1.1%, compared with 7.8% in 2007.
Global economic activities declined,
especially in the last quarter, and the
world's financial markets tumbled.
Weak Market Sentiments
The global economic crisis has
dampened market sentiments in
Singapore's office sector. CB Richard
Ellis reported that average rentals for
prime and Grade A office properties
have eased by 14.0% and 12.5%
year-on-year to $12.90 and $15.00
per square foot (psf) per month,
respectively, by end-2008. Average
occupancy rate for core Central
Business District office space has
dipped to 95.4% from 97.6% at
end-2007.
|
Improved Financial Performance
Despite the soft market conditions,
property income from the investment
properties held by K-REIT Asia rose
by 31.4% to $52.6 million for the
financial year ended 31 December 2008,
compared with $40.1 million in the
previous year. This was due mainly to
higher rental rates achieved for new
and renewed leases.
Net property income grew by 40.3% to
$39.7 million in 2008 from $28.3 million
in 2007. Contributions from
K-REIT Asia’s one-third interest in
One Raffles Quay Pte Ltd amounted
to $44.4 million, compared with the
$2.8 million contribution in 2007 as the
interest was acquired in December 2007.
K-REIT Asia achieved a distributable
income of $58.2 million, up 166.7%
from that for 2007. The full-year
total distribution per unit (DPU) of
8.91 cents was 18.3% higher than
forecast and 1.0% higher than the DPU
of 8.82 cents for the previous financial
year. This slight difference is due to the
successful rights issue of 396.9 million
units completed on 8 May 2008.
K-REIT Asia’s total DPU pay-out
for the period from 1 January to
31 December 2008 totalled 13.04 cents.
|
