Real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Singapore’s stock market can be divided into those with assets primarily located in Singapore, and those with most of their assets located overseas. It is common to find that the former group of REITs are usually priced at a premium due to their lower exposure to currency volatility. But, REITs with predominantly Singapore-based assets can still have high dividend yields (technically, a REIT’s dividend is known as a distribution, but let’s not split hairs here). With this said, I decided to run a quick screen to find the highest-yielding REITs from this group. REIT No.1 Topping this list with a trailing dividend yield of 8.7% is the owner of industrial properties and business parks, Soilbuild Business Space REIT (SGX: SV3U). The

The US Federal Reserve has indicated that 2019 will likely see slower interest rate hikes. This comes on the back of mounting macroeconomic uncertainties, that has seen investors turn to less risky investments. This may benefit REITs in three ways: # 1 Traditionally, REITs take on a lot of debt to fund its capital-intensive property investments. Slower interest rate hikes in 2019 will ease the growing pressure on REITs, in terms of debt repayment. # 2 Markets are efficient – which means that prices of REITs would have taken into consideration that rate hikes would continue as normal. This stance of slowing down the interest rate hikes in 2019 is new information for the market, and may give REITs a boost. (Do note that most of this new information should already be priced into the markets

Nearly a year ago on 7 March 2018, The Motley Fool Singapore launched its first – and currently only – investment newsletter that is focused on real estate investment trusts, Ultimate 8. It has produced superior investment returns since inception, and I thought it will be useful for all Singaporean investors if I shared an overview of what has driven the success of Ultimate 8 thus far. Setting the stage In Ultimate 8, my colleagues and I in Fool Singapore’s investing team recommended eight Singapore-listed REITs. From the service’s launch on 7 March 2018 to 26 February 2019, the eight REITs we selected have delivered an average return of 10.0%, including distributions. Over the same timeframe, Singapore’s stock market benchmark, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), has l

Following my last article which I wrote on Ireit Global, there’s been a good amount of discussion from readers regarding the concern on tenant concentration that surrounds Ireit’s leasing activity over the past couple of years. I am here to provide my own thoughts based on my working knowledge and a good balance discussion of both the advantages and disadvantages which I see and will use several case studies on it.The tenant concentration concern has been brought up several times during the AGM and the management has also taken steps to abate the concern when they bought the Berlin property in order to “diversify” their tenets of tenants spread across their 5 portfolios. But there's more to that reason alone.Here are my further thoughts:1.) David vs Goliath Ireit Glo

Soilbuild Business Space REIT (SGX: SV3U) reported its fourth quarter results earlier this week. The REIT expanded its geographical reach late last year, with two acquisitions in Australia. Let’s take a look at some of the key points in its September to December earnings update. The Numbers Fourth quarter: Revenue up 24.3% to S$25.8 million Net property income increased by 15.3% to S$20.5 million Distribution per unit (DPU) increased 4.9% to 1.451 Singapore cents per unit. Full-year 2018 Gross revenue dipped 1.2% to S$83.8 million Net property income declined by 4.8% to S$69.9 million DPU was down 7.5% to 5.284 Singapore cents What’s behind the numbers The higher revenue and DPU in the fourth quarter was partially due to one-off liquidation proceeds received from Technics Offshore

Current Price on 21st Jan 2019 = $0.605Yield = 9.59%  Price-to-book Ratio = 0.961Assets per unit = $1.176Debt per unit = $0.547 (including current liabilities and perp securities)Gearing = 46.5%Secured NAV = $0.629 (104% of trading price)Soilbuild REIT has published their results which has given me pleasant surprises. Let's take a look at the statistics.The yield has increased to 9.59% which is very high, probably the highest in the market right now. Moreover, their price to book ratio is at 0.961 which means we are still buying at a discount although it is a small one. Gearing is at a high of 46.5% only because I have placed perpetual securities under debts instead of equity. It is still high so the risk is there.It is a pleasant surprise because it is not easy to get such a yie

As investors continue to adopt a risk-off mode, investments have been flowing into defensive stocks. In particular, valuation of REITs has been jacked up due to investors’ interest in increasing exposure to defensive stocks. Investors who were late to the party have been finding it difficult to find REITs that are at the right price. For these investors, there are three REITs that DBS thinks will slowly emerge as value plays as we approach 2019. Investors Takeaway: 3 Value-Play REITs That Should Be On Your Watchlist Soilbuild Business Space REIT As expected, Soilbuild Business Space REIT’s earnings results remained weak in 3Q18. Its DPU continues to be under pressure, just like in the past few years. However, DBS is forecasting a turnaround as contributions from its Australian asset

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

Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, are popular investment choices in the Singapore stock market. That’s because REITs tend to have high dividend yields (technically, a REIT’s dividend is known as a distribution – but let’s not split hairs here!) due to their need to distribute up to 90% of their taxable income to unitholders in order to enjoy tax transparency. In this article, I want to three REITs with distribution yields of over 7% right now: Frasers Commercial Trust (SGX: ND8U), First Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: AW9U), and Soilbuild Business Space REIT (SGX: SV3U). Source: SGX Stock Facts Next up we have Frasers Commercial Trust, a REIT that focuses primarily on commercial properties. It currently has ownership stakes in six commercial properties located in Sing