Citicore Energy REIT Corp., the first renewable energy real estate investment trust in the country, said Wednesday that its 2022 net income surged to P1.25 billion, over five times the level in 2021 on strong revenue growth.
Revenues increased more than four times to P1.37 billion after CREIT shifted its main earnings source to the company’s rich land portfolio.
CREIT completed a year operating as a full-fledged REIT company, with earnings coming from lease revenues, compared with purely electricity sales previously.
The REIT business model of leasing assets proved more efficient and profitable as well, with EBITDA and net income margins higher at 98 percent and 91 percent, respectively, as of year-end vs 88 percent and 64 percent in the previous year.
Due to its strong performance, CREIT declared a total cash dividend of P0.183/share – comprised of P0.176/share regular dividends from its guaranteed base lease and P0.007/share special dividends from its variable lease, representing a 7.35 percent yield based on March 27 closing price of P2.49/share.
For its guaranteed base lease, CREIT has consistently paid out 107% percent of its distributable income in 2022, more than the mandatory 90 percent requirement under the REIT Law. In less than a year as a listed company, CREIT became a constituent of the PSE Dividend Yield Index on February 6, 2023. The index was launched in 2022 to focus on investment securities that consistently give high-yielding dividends.
The company’s green asset portfolio, with total landholdings of almost 2,000,000 square meters and backed by 100 percent occupancy all year-round, has allowed it to declare above-prescribed and steady dividends during the year.
