AmFIRST REIT’s net profit rose 11.6% to RM41.9 mil

KUALA LUMPUR: AmFIRST Real Estate Investment Trust’s (AmFIRST REIT) net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2010 rose 11.6% to RM41.9 million from RM37.5 million before.

The better performance has been achieved due to prudent cost management, active asset management strategies and well located six assets in the Golden Triangle, Petaling Jaya, Kelana Jaya and Subang Jaya, said Lim Yoon Peng in a statement on April 23. Lim is chief executive officer of Am ARA REIT Managers Sdn Bhd, manager of the trust.

“Our active asset management strategies have provided income stability through signing of renewals with creditworthy international and local tenants. Additional income is generated through the creation of more nett lettable area from the completion of asset enhancement works at our property last year,” said Lim.

AmFIRST REIT has six properties worth RM1.008 billion in its portfolio. These are: Bangunan AmBank Group, Menara AmBank, AmBank Group Leadership Centre, Menara Merais, Kelana Brem Towers and The Summit Subang USJ.

The trust manager is now actively marketing the lease of vacant space in the newly- refurbished Menara Merais in Petaling Jaya. Lim said the refurbished Menara Merais should appeal to potential tenants seeking a good quality corporate address in a prominent location.

Meanwhile, the refurbishment and repositioning of The Summit Subang USJ, have been outlined and will be executed in the near future, transforming it into a preferred shopping mall in the area, Lim said.

In terms of capital management, Lim said they have successfully locked in a substantial portion of its revolving credit and fixed rate term loan at favorable rates, mitigating any intermittent rate spikes.

The revaluation exercise on all of its six properties in the final quarter of the financial year just concluded has been completed. Based on the unaudited results as at March 31, 2010, the net asset value per unit of AmFIRST REIT (after provision for distribution) is RM1.35 upon incorporation of the revaluation surplus of RM12.142 million.

The manager has proposed a final income distribution of 4.88 sen per unit for the six-month period from October 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. This together with the interim distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.87 sen paid for the six month period ended 30 September 2009, totaled to a full year DPU of 9.75 sen which exceeded last year’s distribution of 8.75 sen by 11.4%.

AmFIRST REIT’s yield is 8.86% based on the closing price of RM1.10 per unit on March 31, 2010.