Soilbuild REIT - OCBC Investment 2018-07-18: Coming Soon – New Captain On Solaris

SOILBUILD BUSINESS SPACE REIT SGX:SV3U

Soilbuild REIT - Coming Soon – New Captain On Solaris

Soilbuild Business Space REIT’s (Soilbuild REIT) 2Q18 results were within expectations with 1H18 NPI dropping 12.4% y-o-y to S$33.2m, or 50.0% of our initial full-year forecast. 1H18 DPU dropped a corresponding 12.4% y-o-y to 2.588 S cents, or 50.8% of our initial full-year forecast.

We see signs of stabilization on a q-o-q basis – 2Q18 NPI fell 4.4% q-o-q and this was mainly due to the divestment of KTL Offshore (subsidiary of KTL Global Limited (SGX:EB7)) in Feb 2018.
The portfolio occupancy rate remains steady at 87.6%.

Looking ahead, the REIT manager expects to benefit from the conversion of the Solaris master lease to a multi-tenanted building in Aug 2018.
Given that upcoming business park supply in one-north.
In particular, we note that Boustead Projects (SGX:AVM) expects to complete construction of “Alice,” a nearby multi-tenanted building, by 4Q18. From what we understand, underlying rents at Solaris are currently at par with the asking rents of new buildings in the vicinity, but higher than older buildings as well as incoming supply. Fortunately, Solaris’s leases expiring in 2019 make up only around 6.7% of the entire portfolio’s leases by gross rental income.

Since our upgrade from Hold to BUY on 29 Mar (see report: Soilbuild Business Space REIT - Lifting The Overhang!), Soilbuild REIT has posted total returns of 2.8% versus the FTSE Straits Times Real Estate Investment Trust Index’s 9.6% of gross rental income is due for renewal (including underlying tenants at Solaris) for the rest of the year.
Due to macro uncertainties as well as the rising interest rate environment, our cost of equity increases from 8.5% to 8.8% and our fair value dips from S$0.71 to S$0.69.
We continue to find the REIT attractive as at 17 Jul’s close. Maintain BUY.

Deborah Ong OCBC Investment Research | https://www.iocbc.com/ 2018-07-18

SGX Stock Analyst Report BUY Maintain BUY 0.69 Down 0.710