KUALA LUMPUR: Sentral Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is expecting the Klang Valley office and retail markets to remain challenging.
It reported that an estimated 170,000 sq ft of net lettable area (NLA) was due in the first half of the year - from which it achieved a renewal rate of 39.4%.
Correspondingly, Sentral's portfolio occupancy moderated to 84% as at June 30, 2024, compared to portfolio occupancy of 88% recorded in the previous quarter.
Moving forward, the REIT said it will intensify efforts to market the available office spaces under its portfolio with a focus on bringing in new tenants from the IT, e-commerce, serviced office and shared services sector.
"Sentral will continue to focus on asset management and leasing strategies that are centred on cost optimisation and tenant retention in the current operating environment," it said in a results filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Sentral's net income in the second quarter of 2024 (2QFY24) was higher year-on-year at RM20.53mil as compared to RM17.63mil in the year-ago quarter.
The REIT posted revenue of RM49.03mil, up from RM38.19mil in the comparative quarter, while earnings per share gained to 1.72 sen from 1.65 sen previously.
Over the cumulative six months period to June 30, 2024, the REIT's net income was RM40.42mil on revenue of RM98.72mil as compared to bottomline of RM35.3mil and topline of RM75.67mil in 1HFY23.
"The increase was mainly due to higher revenue generated from Menara CelcomDigi (which was included to the portfolio since Dec 11, 2023), Sentral Building 4 and Platinum Sentral, and
the impact of revenue straight-lining over the lease term pursuant to requirements of MFRS 16 Leases," it said.
Sentral declared an income distribution of RM38.4mil, and distribution per unit of 3.21 sen for 1HFY24, payable on Sept 18, 2024.
The annualised DPU translates to a yield of 8.02%, based on Sentral's closing price of 80 sen per share on June 28, 2024.
