Axis REIT flags potential equity fundraising if gearing breaches 40% amid asset expansion

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 30): Axis REIT (KL:AXREIT) may consider an equity fundraising if its financial leverage rises to around 40%, as the real estate investment trust continues to add industrial assets.

For now, however, the trust is “quite comfortable” with its level of debt to asset level at around 32% following recent acquisitions, chief executive officer Leong Kit May (pictured) said at an earnings briefing. There are some deals that could potentially be signed this year, she said without providing details.

“We want to time it in such a way that, when the properties are ready to be injected and gearing rises above 40%, we would then carry out a small equity issuance, if the need arises,” she said. “It is very much about timing.”

Axis REIT has several acquisitions pending completion, including a RM80 million warehouse in Telok Gong, Port Klang, expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

The trust is also in the midst of acquiring industrial buildings in Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang for RM800 million, as well as an industrial facility in Senai, Johor costing RM34.6 million. Both are targeted for completion in 2027.

Axis REIT now has a portfolio of 69 properties, spanning industrial, office, hypermarket and logistics warehouse assets worth over RM5 billion. The portfolio comprises about 15 million square-feet of net lettable area. Borrowings totalled RM1.73 billion.

The most recent acquisitions were Axis Industrial Facility 1 @ Northport, Selangor for RM50 million in January 2026, and Axis Facility 4 @ Bukit Raja, Klang for RM38.8 million in December 2025.

Shares of Axis REIT slipped two sen or 1.03% at RM1.93 at the time of writing on Thursday, valuing the REIT at RM4.03 billion.

Unlock Malaysia’s shifting industrial map. Track where new housing is emerging as talents converge around I4.0 industrial parks across Peninsular Malaysia. Download the Industrial Special Report now.