Filinvest REIT Corp., the listed real estate investment trust of the Gotianun Group, said Tuesday unaudited net income last year slipped to P1.28 billion from P1.31 billion in 2022 as rental and other revenues slipped to P3.0 billion.
The company said average occupancy of its property stood at 83 percent, which is better than market occupancy of 81 percent as reported by Colliers in its 4Q 2023 Office market report.
The board of Filinvest REIT approved the dividend declaration of P0.067 per share to stockholders on record March 11 and will be paid on March 26. The first quarterly cash dividend declaration for this year translates to an annualized yield of 8.3 percent based on the previous close of P3.23 per share.
As of end December 2023, Filinvest REIT signed new leases totaling 20,139 square meters, including 2,630 square meters in the 4th quarter of 2023 coming from the expansion of two BPO companies. This also includes 4,512 square meters of new traditional tenants, reinforcing the company’s strategy of diversifying its tenant base.
The size of new leases in 2023 is almost a fourfold improvement from the signed 5,087 square meters of new leases in 2022. New leases were closed at higher rates against current transacted rates in the Alabang area based on the Colliers report.
In terms of tenant retention, 31,835 square meters or 77 percent of 41,110 square meters of expiring leases in 2023 were renewed.
Filinvest REIT said it weighted average lease expiry, or WALE, has improved as renewals and new leases for the year have set in and the addition of Crimson Boracay pushed the WALE to 6.91 years. The Crimson Boracay lot, which comprises 9 percent of the total gross leasable area, has a 40-year lease.
The company is diversifying its tenant mix with the addition of traditional tenants and co-working locators. The current tenant mix is comprised of 78 percent multinational BPO companies, 11 percent traditional office and co-working, 11 percent hospitality, and the small remainder taken up by retail tenants.
“The new leases that we have in 2024 have been encouraging and we are optimistic that leasing activities will improve further in the second half of the year,” said Ms. Maricel Brion-Lirio, President and CEO of FILRT. “Despite some challenges in the market conditions, we remain committed to expanding our portfolio and steadfast in our goal to significantly increase dividends for our shareholders in the long term,” she added.
