CDL Hospitality Trusts (SGX: J85) is a stapled trust that consists of a real estate investment trust (REIT) and a business trust. It has a focus on hospitality assets, and as of 30 September 2018, owned a total of 15 hotels and two resorts. There are two things to know about the REIT right now: its latest financial performance and valuation. Financial performance Here is a table showing important items from CDL Hospitality Trusts’ financial performance for the third quarter of financial year ending 31 December 2018. Source: CDL Hospitality Trusts Results Presentation Revenue and net property income (NPI) fell by 8.8% and 10.2% respectively. The year-on-year decline in NPI was due to closure of three properties for renovation and lower contribution from Singapore, the UK, and New Zealan

Hospitality, industrial and retail REITs have been facing pressure over the last few quarters due to influx of supply or threat from e-commerce. As the oversupply starts to clear, analysts believe that REITs in these three sub-sectors will recover. Among the retail, hospitality and industrial REITs, CDL Hospitality Trust, Cache Logistics Trust and Fraser Centrepoint Trust have been identified as REITs that are on the cusp of recovery in their respective subsectors. Investors Takeaway: 3 Turnaround REITs With Improving Fundamentals CDL Hospitality Trusts Although CDL Hospitality Trust’s results disappointed over the last two quarters, DBS believes that it is on the cusp of a recovery. The projected recovery in the overall Singapore hospitality market shown in revenue per available roo

Against the backdrop of a rising interest rate environment, REITs seem to be one of the obvious losers. This is because REITs are asset-heavy investments that require high levels of leverage, borrowing substantial amounts of money to purchase properties that they subsequently rent out. Read Also: Increasing Interest Rates In 2018: Here Are 4 Ways Singaporeans Will Be Affected In Singapore, there are currently 39 listed REITs and a further nine business trusts (of which six are property related). On average, they have a debt to asset ratio of just under 35%. With rising interest rates, REITs will have to fork out more in interest payment, potentially reducing the distributions they can pay to investors. How REITs Have Performed In YTD 2018 To gauge the performance of REITs in 2018, we can l

Following the first part of this two-part series where we discussed about RHB’s outlook on the REIT sector and how to adopt a defensive portfolio positioning with REITs, we continue with a deeper dive into RHB’s top five REIT picks and why they deserve a place in investors’ portfolio. Investors Takeaway: Top 5 REIT Picks And Why They Deserve A Place In Your Portfolio Ascendas REIT (A-REIT) A-REIT has been identified as RHB’s preferred industrial pick among the SG REITs. According to RHB, A-REIT offers the best exposure to favourable business park and hi-tech industrial segment in Singapore. A-REIT has been actively expanding its geographical focus over the past three quarters. It made its maiden foray into the UK market this year with the acquisition of 12 logistics properties.

Tides seemed to have turned and the market appears to be on the verge of a correction. The outlook for December is getting ominous and investors should be prepared. According to RHB, it is now time to start getting defensive with REITs as the macroeconomic environment becomes more volatile amidst the threat of faster rate hikes from the Fed. RHB: REIT Outlook By Sub-Sector Hospitality Hospitality REITs have been underperforming over the last two years due to a steady decline in hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) post the 2012 peak. RHB notes that this decline was mainly driven by high hotel supply growth. For the last four years, hotel supply in Singapore has been growing at 4-5 percent per annum, which exceeds the 1-3 percent demand growth. However, going forward, RHB believes t

CDL Hospitality Trust (CDL-HT) (SGX: J85) reported lower distributions per unit (DPU) yesterday evening. The lower distribution was due to multiple reasons, ranging from divestments and a drop in contribution due to ongoing renovations. The latest report was for the stapled trust’s third-quarter earnings results for the year ending 31 December 2018. CDL-HT is one of Asia’s leading hospitality trusts with a portfolio of 15 hotels and two resorts comprising a total of 5,002 rooms and a retail mall. These properties are geographically spread across the world, from Singapore to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Maldives. Let’s take a quick look at the quarter’s results. Gross revenue dropped by 8.8% year-on-year to S$50.0 million while net propert

Consensus seems to agree that the investment climate is shifting. Stepping into the 3Q18 earnings season, analysts are turning marginally cautious as earnings revisions have turned negative. Amidst a myriad of economic and geopolitical uncertainties, market watchers are on the lookout for the first signs of economic recession as the International Monetary Fund also fuelled uneasiness when it warned of institutions struggling to find the next battle plan. Despite Singapore’s robust fundamentals and healthy corporate earnings performance in first half of 2018, management commentary coincided with a less upbeat outlook for the coming quarters. Many has cited global trade tensions and the surprise tightening of property cooling measures as primary concerns that have caused the level of optim

The woes of the global market continue to drag down performance of the STI and investors are seeing the warning signs to be more selective in stock picking. Here are five stocks that UOBKH thinks will be better positioned. Investors Takeaway: 5 Stocks To Make Your Portfolio More Robust Valuetronics Valuetronics continue to enjoy healthy demand for the industrial and commercial electronics (ICE) segment. While it has not yet transpired to strong earnings this time round, UOBKH foresees a better earnings report for Valuetronics in the upcoming quarter. UOBKH highlights that recovery in the smart lighting segment is progressing smoothly. Valuetronics has also been focusing on more product innovation, which will help its consumer electronics division to continue driving stable growth in th

According to a recent report by Singapore Exchange, Singapore’s visitor arrival reached record highs in the first half of the year, increasing 7.4% to 10.9 million. Tourism receipts, likewise, increased 4.7% to S$6.7 billion. Over the longer term, there has also been an upward trend of visitor arrivals and average revenue per available room in Singapore, as shown by the chart below: Source: Singapore Tourism Board With China, India and Indonesia making up 43% of all visitors to Singapore, and the rising affluence in each of those countries, Singapore’s tourism industry should continue to flourish. Investors who want to benefit from this growth could look at real estate investment trusts (REITs) or stapled trusts that have exposure to the growing tourism industry in Singapore, such as

As the earnings visibility for FY19 fades, CIMB thinks that investors should temper expectations. One recommended strategy is to load up some stocks with earnings certainty or which trade at deep discounts. In addition to a risk-off environment given the volatile macro outlook amid US-China trade tensions, CIMB thinks investors should also start preparing by tactically rotating into these yield stocks. Investors Takeaway: 5 Stocks To Rotate Into In This Risk-Off Environment Ascendas REIT With positive rental reversions of 10.5 percent in 1Q19 and contributions from new acquisitions and redevelopment activities, Ascendas REIT’s (AREIT) operating metrics have been improving. Meanwhile, AREIT has ventured into the UK with the purchase of 12 logistics properties and management has guided to

Out of the universe of Singapore-listed companies that reported 2Q18 earnings, 29 percent bested UOBKH’s expectations. This is almost double of last quarter’s 15 percent, which makes 2Q18 one of the highest level of beats since 4Q16. In this article, we dive into the sector analysis of some of the top performing and underperforming sectors in 2Q18. UOBKH SG Report Card: How Did Each Sector Fare? Banks: Solid Performance But Outlook Affected By Uncertainty The banks managed to deliver solid earnings result in 2Q18. However, OCBC came out on top of DBS in this quarter by beating expectations. DBS uncharacteristically fell marginally below expectations but still managed to deliver on net interest margin (NIM) expansion. In that aspect, OCBC was still lagging behind with some catching u

Following our coverage on REITs with emerging value, we move on to 5 other REITs that are becoming appealing to investors owing to a turnaround in industry tailwinds. Investors Takeaway: 5 REITs That Are Appealing Again Suntec REIT Suntec REIT has been on a slew of asset enhancement activities and acquisitions to grow revenue and is firming up plans to further enhance the value proposition of Suntec office. Part of its plan includes upgrading exercise to refresh lobbies, washrooms and visitor management systems over the next 3 years. Development of 9 Penang Road and 477 Collins Street are still ongoing. On top of that, it recently acquired an additional 25-percent stake in Southgate Complex. When these properties are completed, it will add steam to its income stream. BUY, TP $2.30; Curr