Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Equity Bottom-Up

ARA US Hospitality Trust / Equity Bottom-Up

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WITHIN Singapore's Reits &amp; Property Trusts (S-Reits) that are listed for trading, there are five (ARA US Hospitality Trust, Manulife US Reit, Prime US Reit, United Hampshire US Reit, Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit) with 100 per cent of assets located in the US and three (IReit Global, Cromwell European Reit, Elite Commercial Reit) with 100 per cent of their assets in Europe.

These eight S-Reits have an average distribution yield of 7.5 per cent and generated positive average total returns of 8.9 per cent in the 2021 year-to-date till May 12.

In the past week, Cromwell European Reit (CE Reit), Manulife US Reit (MUST) and United Hampshire US Reit (UHU Reit) published their business/operational updates for the first quarter of 2021. Common outlook expectations revolved around the recovery of economic activities in 2021 as vaccination roll-outs progress, restrictions ease, daily activities resume and employment data rebound.

With most of Europe still under tight restrictions during the quarter, GDP for the eurozone economy fell by 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, based on preliminary data released by Europe's statistics office Eurostat. CE Reit noted that, barring a further deterioration of the current Covid-19 situation, the eurozone's 2021 GDP growth is projected at 4.1 per cent (according to Oxford Economics). 
CE Reit's gross revenue and net property income (NPI) declined marginally by 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively for Q1 FY2021. This was attributed to prolonged Covid-19 lockdowns in most of CE Reit's countries of operations. However, the Reit believes that there will be higher demand for light industrial /logistics space as e-commerce continues to expand in 2021, supplemented by further demand coming from the reconfiguration and expansion of supply chains so as to be better prepared for future disruptions and consumer demand shocks. In March 2021, CE Reit completed the acquisition of 11 modern logistics assets in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Reit aims to increase exposure to logistics to 50 per cent of portfolio asset under management (AUM), up from the current 38 per cent. 
In contrast to Europe's GDP contraction in the Q1 2021, the US reported a quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of 1.6 per cent. Both MUST and UHU Reit noted that the GDP rebound indicates momentum coupled with improving unemployment rate, fast-paced vaccination roll-out and two rounds of federal stimulus payments.

In its Q1 FY2021 operational update, MUST reported strong lease renewals (93.6 per cent of leases by NLA) but minimal new leases as prospective tenants continue to stay cautious. Looking forward, MUST expects post Covid-19 themes such as the acceleration of population and company migration, growing technology sector, strong demand for healthcare and fast developing knowledge economy to provide uplift to the Reit. MUST intends to target cities that are business-friendly, have growing technology and healthcare industries as well as robust population growth.

Compared to IPO forecasts, UHU Reit's Q1 FY2021 distributable income was up 1.3 per cent while gross revenue and NPI were down 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. UHU Reit noted that, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), US retail sales are expected to grow between 6.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent in 2021, underpinned by healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand and widespread vaccination. This was evident in the new and renewal leases signed this quarter, most of which were food &amp; beverage and consumer services tenants.

The Reit also expects trends such as increase in consumer awareness of the benefits of self-storage, an increasingly mobile population and the decluttering of homes to create more efficient workspaces to continue even as the country transitions to a post-Covid environment. REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times,<a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/china-poised-to-drive-economic-growth"> </a><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/western-s-reits-sanguine-on-post-covid-outlook">read</a><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/bulk-of-s-reits-in-key-global-real-estate-indices"> </a>the original version.
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    REIT watch


WITHIN Singapore's Reits &amp; Property Trusts (S-Reits) that are listed for trading, there are five (ARA US Hospitality Trust, Manulife US Reit, Prime US Reit, United Hampshire US Reit, Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit) with 100 per cent of assets located in the US and three (IReit Global, Cromwell European Reit, Elite Commercial Reit) with 100 per cent of their assets in Europe.

These eight S-Reits have an average distribution yield of 7.5 per cent and generated positive average total returns of 8.9 per cent in the 2021 year-to-date till May 12.

In the past week, Cromwell European Reit (CE Reit), Manulife US Reit (MUST) and United Hampshire US Reit (UHU Reit) published their business/operational updates for the first quarter of 2021. Common outlook expectations revolved around the recovery of economic activities in 2021 as vaccination roll-outs progress, restrictions ease, daily activities resume and employment data rebound.

With most of Europe still under tight restrictions during the quarter, GDP for the eurozone economy fell by 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, based on preliminary data released by Europe's statistics office Eurostat. CE Reit noted that, barring a further deterioration of the current Covid-19 situation, the eurozone's 2021 GDP growth is projected at 4.1 per cent (according to Oxford Economics).  
CE Reit's gross revenue and net property income (NPI) declined marginally by 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively for Q1 FY2021. This was attributed to prolonged Covid-19 lockdowns in most of CE Reit's countries of operations. However, the Reit believes that there will be higher demand for light industrial /logistics space as e-commerce continues to expand in 2021, supplemented by further demand coming from the reconfiguration and expansion of supply chains so as to be better prepared for future disruptions and consumer demand shocks. In March 2021, CE Reit completed the acquisition of 11 modern logistics assets in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Reit aims to increase exposure to logistics to 50 per cent of portfolio asset under management (AUM), up from the current 38 per cent.  
In contrast to Europe's GDP contraction in the Q1 2021, the US reported a quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of 1.6 per cent. Both MUST and UHU Reit noted that the GDP rebound indicates momentum coupled with improving unemployment rate, fast-paced vaccination roll-out and two rounds of federal stimulus payments.

In its Q1 FY2021 operational update, MUST reported strong lease renewals (93.6 per cent of leases by NLA) but minimal new leases as prospective tenants continue to stay cautious. Looking forward, MUST expects post Covid-19 themes such as the acceleration of population and company migration, growing technology sector, strong demand for healthcare and fast developing knowledge economy to provide uplift to the Reit. MUST intends to target cities that are business-friendly, have growing technology and healthcare industries as well as robust population growth.

Compared to IPO forecasts, UHU Reit's Q1 FY2021 distributable income was up 1.3 per cent while gross revenue and NPI were down 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. UHU Reit noted that, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), US retail sales are expected to grow between 6.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent in 2021, underpinned by healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand and widespread vaccination. This was evident in the new and renewal leases signed this quarter, most of which were food &amp; beverage and consumer services tenants.

The Reit also expects trends such as increase in consumer awareness of the benefits of self-storage, an increasingly mobile population and the decluttering of homes to create more efficient workspaces to continue even as the country transitions to a post-Covid environment.  REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.



REIT Watch - Western S-Reits sanguine on post-Covid outlook