Keppel REIT's Ocean Financial Centre, Singapore.

Unit holders of Singapore-listed commercial real estate investment trust Keppel REIT saw zero growth in its year-on-year distribution for 1Q 2014 despite it recording a nearly 15% jump in net property income (NPI).

Distribution per unit (DPU) for the period came in at 1.97 Singapore cents, unchanged from the same period last year. The REIT's property and net property incomes for 1Q 2014 increased 12.9% and 14.7% year-on-year to $46.8 million and $39.5 million respectively.

Keppel REIT has attributed the growth in incomes to mainly better performance from Ocean Financial Centre and Prudential Tower, and the additional contribution from 8 Exhibition Street in Melbourne which was acquired in August 2013.

For the quarter, the REIT is reporting an occupancy of 100% for its Singapore properties and an average occupancy of 99.8% overall. Top ten tenants for the REIT are said to have an weighted average lease to expiry (WALE) of 8.7 years.

For the rest of the year, the REIT expects demand for Premium Grade and Grade A office spaces to remain healthy, given the limited supply in the pipeline of such offices for the rest of the year and in 2015.

By Ridzwan Rahmat

Ridzwan has been analysing REITs and business trusts since 2008, and personally manages a portfolio comprising mainly of SGX-listed REITs. He founded REITsWeek in 2013.