Ascendas REIT's property income inched up 1.7% to $157.6m in Q3

This was due to a property tax increase of 42.9%.

OCBC Investment Research reported that Ascendas REIT (A-REIT)’s net property income (NPI) rose by 1.7% YoY to $157.6m in 3Q2018, from $155m in 2017.

Meanwhile, gross revenue went up by 4.1% YoY to $217.3m in Q3.

Increases in NPI and revenue were caused by a 42.9% rise in property tax, which was due to a one-off property tax refund in the third quarter of the previous year. Topline growth was due to acquisitions and redevelopments, but were partially offset by divestments in China and Singapore, OCBC said.

Higher management fees and a larger unit base caused DPU to fall down by 0.6% YoY to 3.97 singapore cents.

Further, A-REIT’s rental reversions for its Singapore portfolio came at 5.8%, whilst its Australia portfolio had a decline of 1%.