Ascott Residence Trust

Ascott Residence Trust: 2Q14 core DPU increased 5% to 2.19¢ while core distributable income increased 24.4% to $33.5m. Revenue and gross profit were 14% higher at $88.1m and $46.5m respectively, on $9.4m of incremental revenue from new acquisitions and $2.4m contribution from existing properties. Aggregate leverage stood at 36.4%. Effective borrowing rate was 2.9% with weighted average debt to maturity of 3.9 years. As the global economy is gaining pace going into 2015, management is expecting to benefit. Ascott REIT agreed to acquire 2 residence properties in China and one in Malaysia at an aggregate $173.9m consideration in early July, which will boost asset value by 5% to about $4b. 5 AEIs were completed in 1H14, and uplift post AEI has been good. Plans for other AEIs in China, Vietnam, UK for 2H are also underway. NAV stood at $1.38, annualized 2Q14 yield is 6.9%. Latest broker ratings: UOB-KH maintains Buy with TP $1.40