Axis REIT Managers Bhd chief executive officer/executive director Stewart LaBrooy at the media briefing yesterday. At the back fr left are chief financial officer Leong Kit May, business development & investor relations senior manager Chan Wai Leo and head of real estate David Aboud.
“The funds raised will be used to expand our property portfolio and to reduce our gearing,” he told reporters here yesterday at a media briefing in conjunction with its unaudited half yearly results announcement.
LaBrooy said ARMB was looking to acquire two new logistics houses and a retail warehouse in Johor, as well as an office building in Cyberjaya, which would cost about RM190mil in total to add to the existing 23 assets it currently owned.
Axis REIT properties include assets in commercial, office and industrial real estate.
“Upon conclusion of the acquisitions, our total assets under management will be RM1.2bil from the current RM900mil,” he said, adding that on average, the group acquired about five assets annually.
He also said ARMB planned to have at least US$500mil worth of assets so that it could attract attention from the international market and that the group was pushing hard to reach that level.
“Our aim is to acquire good assets in good locations such as in Penang, Klang Valley and Johor Baru that can bring value and benefit to the group and also to the unit holders,” he said.
On the group’s financial results, LaBrooy said ARMB was on the right track, with growth seen in revenue and distribution per unit compared to the preceding quarter despite the volatility in global markets.
“This year also saw us comprehensively revalued five of our properties - Axis Shah Alam DC, BWM Centre PTP, Giant Hypermarket, Nestle Office & Warehouse and Quattro West - and this resulted in a positive change in fair value of RM9.07mil,” he said. Axis REIT, which owns mostly industrial properties, posted a 74.51% rise in net profit to RM21.87mil for the second quarter ended June 30, compared with the same quarter a year ago.
LaBrooy attributed the jump in net profit to a combination of revaluation surplus and realised gains from distributed profit and revaluation gains. Revenue for the quarter under review stood at RM21mil, a rise of just over 21% compared with a year ago.
LaBrooy said Axis REIT’s performance in the third quarter would improve due to the satisfactory performance of its existing portfolio and with Quattro West property coming on stream.
By The Star
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