The second earnings season for 2025 has come along, and the REIT sector is revealing its results and business updates for the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025).
Investors will be curious to know how REITs are coping with the elevated interest rate environment and managers’ thoughts on Trump’s raft of tariffs.
There’s good news for income investors, though.
More REITs have reported higher distributable income as the sector enjoys a reprieve.
Here are four Singapore REITs that look poised to pay out higher distributions.
Sabana REIT (SGX: M1GU)
Sabana REIT owns a portfolio of 18 industrial properties in Singapore, with a gross floor area of around 4.2 million square feet.
The REIT has total assets under management (AUM) of S$1 billion as of 31 December 2024.
For 1Q 2025, Sabana REIT saw gross revenue increasing by 4.6% year on year to S$29.1 million, aided by higher occupancy at its multi-tenanted portfolio along with strong positive rental reversions.
Net property income (NPI) jumped 22% year on year to S$16 million because of lower overall property expenses.
The REIT’s distributable income per unit climbed 26.5% year on year from S$0.0068 to S$0.0086.
The industrial REIT also saw its occupancy rate inch up 1.4 percentage points quarter-on-quarter from 85% to 86.4% in 1Q 2025.
The higher occupancy was aided by higher occupancy at 33, 33A and 35 Penjuru Lane, which rose to 86.3% as compared to 73.7% three months ago.
Rental reversion continued to be healthy at +15.3%, maintaining its double-digit level from the fourth quarter of 2024’s 27.1%.
Sabana REIT’s gearing stood at 37.8% with an all-in financing cost of 4.57%, giving the REIT a debt headroom of S$116.5 million before hitting the limit of 50%.
ESR-REIT (SGX: J91U)
ESR-REIT has a portfolio of 72 properties across Singapore (52), Australia (18), and Japan (2) with a total gross floor area of around 2.5 million square metres.
The REIT’s total AUM stood at S$6 billion as of 31 December 2024.
1Q 2025 saw gross revenue climb 24.2% year on year to S$110.5 million, contributed by the acquisition of ESR Yatomi Kisosaki Distribution Centre and 20 Tuas South Avenue 14 in November last year.
NPI shot up 31.3% year on year to S$82.5 million.
If these acquisitions are excluded, ESR-REIT’s gross revenue and NPI would still have risen 3.4% and 5.3% year on year, respectively.
1Q 2025’s distributable income increased by 7% year on year to S$44.2 million.
The manager remarked that this result demonstrates the success of its “4R” strategy and is the start of a distribution per unit (DPU) upturn.
ESR-REIT’s portfolio occupancy was stable at 91.6%, dipping just slightly from 91.7% a year ago.
The portfolio also logged a positive rental reversion of 8.6% for the quarter.
The industrial REIT announced a new asset enhancement initiative (AEI) at 29 Tai Seng Street.
The manager will focus on asset rejuvenation and capital recycling and believes that these are beginning to yield positive results for the REIT.
Parkway Life REIT (SGX: C2PU)
Parkway Life REIT is a healthcare REIT with a portfolio of 75 properties spread out across Singapore (3), Japan (60), France (11), and Malaysia (1).
For 1Q 2025, gross revenue increased by 7.3% year on year to S$39 million.
NPI improved by 7.5% year on year to S$36.8 million while distributable income climbed 9.1% year on year to S$25 million.
Parkway Life REIT’s DPU stood at S$0.0384, up 1.3% year on year, but the healthcare REIT will only pay out its distribution every half-yearly.
The REIT maintained a strong balance sheet with gearing of just 36.1% and a low cost of debt of 1.5%.
Parkway Life REIT recently divested its entire Malaysian portfolio at a 4.6% premium above the independent valuation of RM 19.2 million as of 31 December 2024.
Keppel DC REIT (SGX: AJBU)
Keppel DC REIT is a data centre REIT with a portfolio of 24 data centres in 10 countries.
The REIT’s AUM stood at around S$4.9 billion as of 31 March 2025.
1Q 2025 saw Keppel DC REIT’s revenue leap 22.6% year on year to S$102.2 million, contributed by the acquisitions of two data centres in Singapore and one in Tokyo.
Revenue also benefitted from contract renewals and escalations in 2024.
NPI climbed 24.1% year on year to S$88.1 million, and distributable income soared 59.4% year on year to S$61.8 million.
The data centre REIT’s DPU rose 14.2% year on year to S$0.02503.
Keppel DC REIT had a high portfolio occupancy of 96.5% along with a long weighted average lease expiry of 7.1 years.
The portfolio also enjoyed a positive rental reversion of 7% with no major contract renewals during the quarter.
Aggregate leverage was low at just 30.2%, along with an average cost of debt of 3.1%.
The REIT only has 2.2% of its loans coming due in 2025.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Keppel DC REIT.
