Ascott Residence Trust’s Q4 DPU up 11%

Ascott Residence Trust announced on Thursday that its distribution per unit (DPU) for the fourth quarter is 1.87 Singapore cents.

That is 11 per cent better than the 1.69 cents DPU declared over the same period a year ago.

Unitholders’ distribution for the fourth quarter amounted to S$11.5 million, up 12 per cent on-year.

The higher distribution in the fourth quarter came despite revenue falling 2 per cent on-year to S$46.1 million.

Ascott said the drop in revenue was mainly due to weaker demand of serviced residences in Singapore.

The decrease in revenue was, however, partially offset by contribution from its property Somerset West Lake.

For the whole year, Ascott’s DPU came in at 7.32 cents, 17 per cent lower than the previous year’s DPU of 8.78 cents

Full year unitholders’ distribution for 2009 was 16 per cent lower at S$45.2 million.

Ascott said the fall in full-year revenue and gross profit was attributed to weaker demand of serviced residences in Singapore and China as a result of the global recession.

Increased competition from new supply in Beijing and Shanghai also impacted its full-year results.

Ascott said it has seen a continued stability in hospitality demand in the last two quarters of 2009.

It remains confident of the longer term growth in the markets in which it operates and expects to be profitable this year.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 21 Jan 2010