Soilbuild REIT - OCBC Investment 2018-10-19: Solaris Conversion As Expected

SOILBUILD BUSINESS SPACE REIT (SGX:SV3U)

Soilbuild REIT - Solaris Conversion As Expected

Soilbuild REIT’s 3Q18 results were within expectation. 3Q18 revenue fell 3.6% y-o-y to S$19.8m, mainly due to
1. KTL Offshore divestment,
2. lower contribution from West Park BizCentral and Eightrium, partially offset by
3. higher revenue from the Solaris conversion on 15 Aug.
Soilbuild REIT’s 3Q18 DPU fell 9.4% y-o-y to 1.245 Scents to 24.9% of our initial full-year forecast.

On a q-o-q basis, 3Q18 revenue was 5.7% higher but NPI was 0.1% lower, as the Solaris conversion saw higher revenue as well as higher property expenses. 3Q18 DPU fell by 1.5% q-o-q primarily due to
1. lower NPI and
2. higher net finance expenses due to the repayment of the Sponsor’s interest-free loan.
We note that the DPU declines have moderated q-o-q – recall that 1Q18 and 2Q18 DPU fell 4.3% q-o-q and 4.5% q-o-q respectively.

In 3Q18, rental reversions of 3.6% and -2.4% were recorded for renewals (including forward renewals) and new leases, vs. 2Q18’s -9.7% (renewals) and -16.4% (new leases).
After the briefing, we note that 3Q figures were skewed by Solaris leases (which posted high single-digit growth over the master lease rental) and believe that rental reversions for the wider portfolio came in closer to -10% or so.
We continue to expect the industrial space in Singapore to remain challenging for the rest of 2018, but take comfort in that only 3.1% of gross rental income is due for renewal (including underlying tenants at Solaris) for 4Q18.

Meanwhile, with the completion of the Aussie acquisitions on 5 Oct, we look forward to a full-quarter contribution from the two new assets.
Our forecasts remain largely unchanged, except that they now include the contribution from Soilbuild REIT’s Australian assets and the associated costs of the transaction. With the increase in gearing to 39.2% post-acquisition, our cost of equity increases from 8.8% to 9.2%. After adjustments, our fair value drops from S$0.69 to S$0.665.
We see an opportunity to collect units in the REIT 1-2 quarters before stronger signs of operational improvement are seen. Soilbuild REIT is trading at 8.6% FY18F dividend yield and we continue to find the REIT attractively priced as at 18 Oct’s close.
We re-iterate BUY on Soilbuild REIT with a fair value of S$0.665.

Deborah Ong OCBC Investment Research | https://www.iocbc.com/ 2018-10-19

SGX Stock Analyst Report BUY MAINTAIN BUY 0.665 DOWN 0.690