Emirates REIT posts 5.1pc growth in rental income for 2019
DUBAI, April 9, 2020
UAE-based Emirates REIT, one of the largest shari'a-compliant real estate investment trusts, has registered a rental income of $64.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, up 5.1 per cent over last year.
A Dubai-based REIT investing principally in income-producing real estate in line with Shari'a principles, Emirates REIT is being managed by Equitativa, a leading regional asset manager.
Announcing Emirates REIT's end of year operating and financial results for 2019, Equitativa said it had registered an increase of 4.2 per cent in total property income which rose to $72.9 million, and a 10.2 per cent growth in net property income which surged to $58.7 million.
Ebitda for the year marked a 2.5% year-on-year increase, to hit 33.4 million, it added.
However, the Emirates REIT's performance has been seriously impacted by prudent provisions on certain receivables and asset valuation losses driven by market conditions which led to a total net loss of $26.3 million.
The year also witnessed a 14.9 per cent drop in the Emirates REIT portfolio’s total property expenses, it added.
Net comprehensive loss amounted to $26.3 million after incorporating $30 fair valuation loss as of December 31, 2019.
Equitativa pointed out that the Emirates REIT's Net Asset Value stood at $469.7 million or $1.57 per share as at December 2019, while liquidity as increased by 27% to $48.4 million.
As a result, during the year ended 31 December 2019, the REIT manager signed 71 new leases totalling approximately 120,000 sq ft, executed 93 lease renewals totalling over 155,000 sq ft, and improved the REIT’s operating margins from 76.1% in FY 2018 to 80.5% FY 2019. A stable occupancy rate of 73% was registered as on December 31.
Equitativa Executive Deputy Chairman and CEO Sylvain Vieujot said: "The health and safety of our tenants, our employees and the staff who work for our operating partners remain our main priority in this truly unprecedented period brought by the Covid-19-19 pandemic."
“We have implemented several initiatives to protect our business and our tenants and ensure the health and safety standards of our people and assets. These include deploying technology for remote working, flexible work and reallocation of resources,” stated Vieujot.
"In these challenging times, we are further strengthening our operations to support our tenants and business partners. As a result, our relationships with our tenants is becoming stronger, and we continue to work very closely with them to implement the best measures that support them appropriately," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
