Frasers Commercial Trust

OCBC on 26 Jul 2012

Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) turned in a strong set of 3QFY12 results last evening. The robust quarterly performance was mainly driven by the acquisition of the balance 50% interest in Caroline Chisholm Centre (CCC) and higher income from direct tenant leases at China Square Central (CSC) following the expiry of the master lease. Leasing activities within FCOT’s portfolio has also remained robust. On the capital management front, FCOT updated that it has successfully completed the early refinancing of its S$500m term loan facility using two new facilities. Notably, blended interest margin is ~1ppt lower than its previous borrowing margin. Hence, we expect FCOT to gain from interest savings going forward. Maintain BUY on FCOT with a higher fair value of S$1.16.

3Q results were within expectations
Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) turned in a strong set of 3QFY12 results last evening. NPI and distributable income were up 7.1% and 16.7% YoY to S$26.6m and S$15.6m respectively. DPU for the quarter came in at 1.70 S cents (+23.2% YoY), after netting off S$4.7m in distribution to CPPU holders. For 9MFY12, DPU totaled 4.94 S cents, representing a growth of 16.8%. This is roughly in line with our estimates, given that it formed 73.1% of our full year DPU forecast.

Improvement from all fronts
The robust quarterly performance was mainly driven by the acquisition of the balance 50% interest in Caroline Chisholm Centre (CCC) and higher income from direct tenant leases at China Square Central (CSC) following the expiry of the master lease. Leasing activities within FCOT’s portfolio has also remained robust. Overall portfolio occupancy as at 30 Jun was at 96.7%, up marginally from 96.1% in the previous quarter, thanks to improved occupancy rates at its Singapore and Australia properties. FCOT also secured a number of lease renewals during the quarter, such as leases with Cerebos Pacific at CSC. Together with long-term lease at CCC, the portfolio weighted average lease to expiry was strengthened to 4.2 years, up from 3.4 years in 2Q.

Retain BUY, raising FV to S$1.16
Management also updated that it has successfully completed the early refinancing of its S$500m term loan facility using two new facilities (S$320m and S$185m loans). Notably, blended interest margin is ~1ppt lower than its previous borrowing margin. Hence, we expect FCOT to gain from interest savings going forward. We also understand that unitholders had approved the sale of KeyPoint. We believe FCOT may possibly use the proceeds to redeem 50% of its CPPUs and pare down its debts, given that its aggregate leverage is at 39.5%. After factoring in the results and redeployment of KeyPoint sale proceeds, our fair value is now raised to S$1.16 from S$0.97 previously. Maintain BUY on FCOT.