KUALA LUMPUR: Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis-REIT) net profit more than doubled to RM99.98 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021 (4Q21) from RM49.27 million posted a year earlier.
Its total trust income in 4Q21 was RM62.9 million, up 9.43% from RM57.51 million in 4Q20.
For the full year, Axis-REIT’s net income jumped 41% to RM200.36 million from RM142.06 million the previous year, driven by a higher gain in the fair value of properties shift.
The fair value gain in FY21 was RM67.8 million compared to RM19 million in the prior year.
It posted a 7.8% increase in the trust’s total income to RM242.4 million in FY21 from RM224.9 million the previous year.
The increase in revenues was mainly attributed to the completion of 5 new acquisitions, the start of new leases at Axis Industrial Facility @ Rawang and a positive rental reversion during FY21.
Axis REIT Managers Bhd, the management company of Axis-REIT has offered to distribute 99% of its realized income available for distribution, generated from operations for the period from December 16, 2021 to December 31, 2021 as a final income distribution of FY21, giving a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.38 sen.
The final 2021 income distribution will be payable on February 28, 2022 and the book closing date is February 8, 2022.
In a statement, Axis-REIT said it has completed the acquisition of five properties with a total value of RM223.2 million, bringing the total value of its investment properties to RM3.6 billion.
Fund size increased 13.3% to 1.63 billion units from 1.44 billion units in fiscal 2020 at the end of the placement exercise on December 20, 2021 and the implementation of the income distribution reinvestment plan.
The number of unitholders increased by more than 55% to reach 10,521 at the end of FY21 compared to 6,776 at the end of FY20.
In a separate filing addressed to Bursa Malaysia, Axis-REIT announced that it had obtained from Shopee Express Malaysia Sdn Bhd the lease of the entire Bukit Raja 2 (BRDC 2) distribution center for a period of 15 years, after of the BRDC 2 development project. .
The proposed development includes the construction of a single storey warehouse and ancillary buildings, upgrading an existing 3 storey office building with a total gross built area of approximately 620,096 square feet.
Axis-REIT said development work should begin in the first quarter of 2022 and be completed for handover to Shopee Express by August 31, 2023.
The estimated development cost (excluding land) of this proposed development is approximately RM130mil.
