Filinvest REIT Corp., the listed real estate investment trust of Filinvest Land Inc., said Friday its board approved the declaration of P304 million of distributable income as cash dividend for shareholders on record 24 May.
This means shareholders on record will receive a cash dividend of P0.062 per common share on 27 June. The latest quarterly dividend brings year-to-date cash dividend to P0.129 per share, representing an annualized yield of 9.0 percent based on Thursday’s closing price of P2.86 a share.
FILRT earlier posted net profit of P304 million in the first quarter after it recorded revenues of P725 million, down 10 percent, and a 2 percent rise in spending to P325 million.
The listed REIT has a portfolio of 17 office buildings and one resort lot totaling 330,448 square meters had an average occupancy of 79 percent in the first quarter of 2024, lower than the average occupancy of 83 percent in 2023. The drop is due to non-renewals, pre-terminations and downsizing of some business process outsourcing tenants who shifted to work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements.
“In terms of occupancy, we believe that we have already seen the bottom. We are optimistic that leasing activities will start to turn around and gradually improve in the next quarters. We have managed to find immediate replacement tenants amid a challenged office market,” said Maricel Brion-Lirio, president and chief executive officer of FILRT.
“As we recover and rebuild the tenancy of our office buildings, we are also steadfast in our goal to expand our portfolio in order to increase dividends for our shareholders in the long term,” she added.
FILRT continues to finalize new leases and renew expiring contracts. As of the end of April 2024, a total of almost 14,700 square meters of new leases have signed Contracts of Lease and Letters of Intent. This will lead to an increase in occupancy to 83 percent in the coming months. An additional 8,000 square meters is under negotiations with mostly multinational BPO companies.
