Total property income posted year-on-year growth of 10% to $74 million, highest value ever
Equitativa Limited, manager of Emirates REIT PLC, has reported FY 2023 financial results for Emirates REIT. The REIT experienced strong growth, with record property income.
Commenting on Emirates REIT’s 2023 performance, Thierry Delvaux, Chief Executive Officer of Equitativa, said: “The past year represents a major milestone for Emirates REIT, with record revenues and positive operating profits built on a strategy based on asset performance optimization. With a well-managed diversified portfolio of premium commercial, retail and educational assets in Dubai, Emirates REIT is well positioned to build on our strong foundations for growth.
We signed a significant number of leases at lower rates during the COVID crisis, which are now coming to maturity. This should yield substantial additional rental growth in the next few years across the entire portfolio, as those are renewed at the current rates.”
Total property income reached $74m for FY 2023, representing a growth rate of 10% year-on year for the 12-months ended December 31, 2023 . On a like-for-like basis, disregarding the effects of divestment of an investment property, this growth amounted to 13%.
Property operating expenses recorded a slight increase of 2% y-o-y. Consequently, net property income grew by 12%, amounting to $62 million for FY 2023 .
Operating profit amounted to $44m, up by 37% .
Impacted by the rising benchmark rates and higher Sukuk profit, the net finance cost for FY 2023 amounted to $50m (FY 2022: $29m), which resulted in a negative Funds From Operations (FFO) of $6m.
Profit for the year 2023 amounted to $127m up by 55% y-o-y.
The unrealized gain on revaluation of investment properties for FY 2023 amounted to $133 million, reflecting the strong operating performance of the portfolio assets in a healthy real estate market. Fair value of investment properties, driven by continued improved valuations, increased by 18% y-o-y to $924m.
Net Asset Value continued to rise, growing by 34% y-o-y to close at $500m, which translated into a NAV per share of $1.57, and Total Assets crossed $1bn, to $1,037m.
Thierry Delvaux continued: “The results reflect the hard work and skill of the asset management team that has raised efficiencies across the board, ensuring that the assets in our portfolio are performing at an optimal level, providing excellent value for our shareholders, tenants, and partners. The FFO was, however, still impacted negatively by the high finance costs. Having peaked at 62% in 2020, the Finance To Value is now down to a healthy 43%, close to the 42% of FY 2017, when the Sukuk was raised.”
Source: khaleejtimes