Singapore-listed industrial REIT, Soilbuild Business Space REIT (Soilbuild REIT), announced on 13 July that it has achieved a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.565 Singapore cents for its 2Q2016, a fall of 3.1% compared to the 1.615 cents recorded in 2Q2015.

Gross revenue for the period slipped marginally by 0.1% to SGD19.6 million but net property income (NPI) grew 3.7% to SGD17.3 million on the back of lower property tax expenses, said the REIT in its statement on the results.

“With the slowdown in the manufacturing sector which resulted in a soft leasing environment, the portfolio occupancy has dipped to 92.0% at end of 2Q FY2016 as compared to the industrial average of 90.1% as at 1st Quarter FY2016”, said Roy Teo, CEO of the REIT’s manager.

According to the REIT’s presentation on its results, this is the lowest recorded portfolio occupancy ever.

“The challenge remains to re-let the vacant space and to renew the multi-tenanted leases that are expiring for the rest of the year which makes up 2.0% of the portfolio’s net lettable area”, he added.

The REIT’s aggregate gearing is at 35.9% with a weighted average debt maturity of 3.4 years and an average interest cost of 3.44%.

“We will continue to focus on active asset management while maintaining our prudent approach in capital management”, said the REIT in a statement on its outlook.

Units of Soilbuild REIT finished the trading day about 0.7% higher from its previous close on the Singapore Exchange to end at SGD0.70.