CapitaLand Ascendas REIT

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the full year 2024 results briefing of Capital Land Ascendas REIT, or CLARE for short. We thank you for joining us in person and online today. As always, this briefing will start with a presentation by management on CLARE's financial and operational performance for 2024, after which there will be a question and answer segment. So for those in the audience, you may raise your hand and I will call out your name or identify you by your company. And a microphone will be brought to you by one of my colleagues. If you are attending this briefing online, you can submit your questions via the Q&A function on Zoom anytime during this briefing. And then we will address any questions that have not been asked by the audience after. So before we begin the session proper, let me introduce the management on the panel. First, we have Mr. William Tay, CEO of Clare. Second, we have Ms. Koo Lee Se, CFO of Clare. Next, we have Ms. Yao Kip Ming, Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations. And finally, we have Mr. James Goh, Head of Portfolio Management. And with that, I will hand the time over to Kit Bing, who will begin the presentation. Thank you.

Thanks, Andrea. Happy New Year, everyone. I believe last year, 2024, has been a very interesting year for all of us. There were uncertainties around inflation trend, geopolitical tensions, and changes in administration. So despite all of this, we are pleased to present a resilient set of results for FY2024. which will enable Claire to start this year in a strong position. Okay, key highlights. Distributable income increased 2.2% to $668.8 million. DPU increased 0.3% to 15.205 cents. Investment properties held steady at $16.76 billion. The portfolio occupancy remained high at 92.8% and we achieved high rental reversion of 11.6% for leases renewed during the year. Gearing is healthy at 37.7% and the cost of debt is stable at 3.7%. On the sustainability front, CLAIRE is now included in two more indices, that is the FTSE Good Develop Index and FTSE Good ASEAN Index. So let's take a closer look at the details. So full year 2024 versus full year 2023. Gross revenue increased by 2.9% to $1.5 billion, and this is mainly due to the full-year contribution from properties that were acquired in 2023. So the properties are the Chess Building in the UK, the Stuttgart in Singapore. as well as the completion of MQX4, which is a development in Sydney, Australia, and also this convert to suit property in Last Boulevard in the US. So as a result, NPI increased by 2.6% to $1 billion and distributable income increased by 2.2% to $668.8 million. DPU increased 0.3% to 15.305 cents due to the issuance of some new units for base management fees. When we compare second half of 2024 versus the first half of the same year, 2024, gross revenue declined 2.2%, and this is mainly due to the divestment of four properties in Brisbane and Singapore, as well as lower utilities income. NPI decreased in tandem with the decrease in revenue, but partially offset by lower operating expenses. Distributable income increased 2.2% to $338 million due to lower interest expense. DPU increased 2.1% in tandem with the increase in the distributable income. So when we compare second half of 2024 versus the second half the year before 2023, gross revenue declined 1.1% to $753 million due mainly to the decommission of Welling Garden City and the divestment of the four properties in Brisbane and Singapore. However, NPI increased by 1.4% due to lower operating expenses. So distributable income increased by a higher 3.4% and this was boosted due to the lower interest expense. So DPU increased 3.2% to 7.681 cents. We adopt a semi-annual distribution frequency. So for the second half period of 1st July to 31st December of 2024, a distribution of 7.681 cents will be made. So you'll be receiving the dividends on the 11th of March.

Moving on to investments.