The REIT sector has been under pressure for more than two years from elevated interest rates and high inflation.
The good news is that these headwinds seem to be abating.
Singapore’s inflation hit a four-year low recently with core inflation coming in at just 0.6% for February 2025.
And the US Federal Reserve may be poised to cut interest rates two times later this year to shore up the economy.
Meanwhile, here are four Singapore REITs that should be on your radar for April.
Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U)
Mapletree Logistics Trust, or MLT, is a logistics REIT with a portfolio of 183 properties across eight countries as of 31 December 2024.
MLT reported a downbeat set of earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2025 (9M FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
Revenue dipped by 1% year on year to S$182.4 million because of lower contributions from China and the absence of contributions from divested properties.
Net property income (NPI) fell by 1.5% year on year to S$472.5 million.
Distribution per unit (DPU) tumbled 10.2% year on year to S$0.06098 because of higher borrowing costs, China weakness, and regional currency weakness.
Despite the DPU decline, MLT maintained a high portfolio occupancy of 96.3% and also reported a positive portfolio rental reversion of 3.4%.
The manager has been active in capital recycling with a total of 13 properties divested in 9M FY2025.
In early March, MLT announced the sale of 31 Penjuru Lane for S$7.8 million, continuing its consistent streak of divestments.
The sale price was 6.8% above the property’s latest valuation as of 28 November 2024.
Elite UK REIT (SGX: MXNU)
Elite UK REIT portfolio comprises freehold properties located near town centres and transportation nodes.
The portfolio had total assets under management (AUM) of £416 million as of 31 December 2024.
The UK-based REIT reported a mixed set of earnings for 2024.
Both revenue and NPI fell 1.2% and 10.3%, respectively, to £37.5 million and £37.4 million.
DPU, however, improved by 5% year on year to £0.0287.
Elite UK REIT’s properties are on triple net leases and its portfolio occupancy rate stood high at 93.9%.
The REIT has a three-pronged strategy of relet, recycle, and reposition which should help to rejuvenate and improve the portfolio.
The manager engaged with tenants to extend and diversify leases ending in 2028 to extend the REIT’s weighted average lease expiry to 3.3 years.
Elite UK REIT also divested assets at an average 15.1% premium to valuation last year.
This capital recycling continued last month with the sale of Crown Buildings at Claude Road, Caerphilly.
The sale consideration was £710,000, an 18% premium over its valuation of £600,000.
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (SGX: J69U)
Frasers Centrepoint Trust, or FCT, is a retail REIT with a portfolio of nine suburban malls and an office building.
The total AUM of the REIT stood at S$7.1 billion as of 31 December 2024.
FCT reported an encouraging business update for its first quarter of fiscal 2025 (1Q FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
Retail portfolio committed occupancy stood high at 99.5% while 1Q FY2025’s shopper traffic and tenant sales saw a 2.7% and 2.5% year-on-year increase, respectively.
The REIT is also undertaking an asset enhancement initiative (AEI) of Hougang Mall with the main contract awarded within budget.
The manager is targeting a 7% return on investment (ROI) on capital spending of S$51 million.
Aside from this AEI, the manager also carried out a major acquisition last month, purchasing Northpoint City’s South Wing for S$1.17 billion.
With this purchase, FCT intends to carry out an extensive AEI to create an additional net lettable area.
The acquisition will also add 2% to fiscal 2024’s DPU of S$0.12042, raising it to S$0.1228.
Digital Core REIT (SGX: DCRU)
Digital Core REIT, or DCR, is a data centre REIT with a portfolio of 10 data centres with an AUM of US$1.6 billion as of 31 December 2024.
The REIT reported a resilient set of earnings for 2024 as revenue dipped 0.3% year on year to US$102.3 million.
NPI declined by 1.9% year on year to US$61.8 million, and DPU fell just 2.7% year on year to US$0.036.
DCR enjoyed a portfolio occupancy of 97% and had a low aggregate leverage of 34% as of 31 December 2024, with debt headroom of US$540 million before it hit the 50% gearing threshold.
Late last month, the REIT announced that it acquired a 20% stake in a second fully-fitted, freehold data centre in Osaka for around US$87 million.
This acquisition should improve geographic diversification for DCR and expand the REIT’s presence in Japan.
It is also expected to add 1.8% to the REIT’s DPU and will raise its leverage from 34% to 37.3%.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Digital Core REIT.
