SG Morning Highlights | Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust to Divest Mapletree Anson for $775 Million

Singapore shares opened higher on Friday. The $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index (.STI.SG)$ rose 0.17 percent to 3327.07 as at 9:05 am.

$Mapletree PanAsia Com Tr (N2IU.SG)$: Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT) is divesting Mapletree Anson, a 19-storey office building in Tanjong Pagar, for $775 million. As at March 31, the property was valued at $765 million by independent valuer CBRE based on the income capitalisation method and discounted cash flow analysis method. The divestment consideration of $775 million represents a gain of $10 million – or 1.3 per cent – over Mapletree Anson’s book value and valuation. It is also 14 per cent higher than the original purchase price of $680 million that MPACT paid for the property back in 2013. The divestment is part of the Reit’s ongoing strategy to “rationalise and optimise the portfolio” and will benefit unitholders by enhancing MPACT’s capital structure and financial resilience. The manager intends to use net proceeds from the divestment towards debt reduction, which is expected to strengthen MPACT’s capital structure and financial resilience by lowering its aggregate leverage ratio from 40.5 per cent (as at March 31) to 37.6 per cent on a pro forma basis.

$IHH (Q0F.SG)$: IHH Healthcare, a leading healthcare provider, announced its highest-ever quarterly revenue in 1Q24, reaching RM6 billion ($1.7 billion) for the first time, representing a 16% YoY increase. The company attributed its revenue growth to "sustained patient volume and taking on more acute, complex cases." In 1Q24, the hospital recorded 218,981 inpatient admissions. IHH Healthcare's earnings and profit, excluding exceptional items, also saw double-digit growth, rising 19% YoY to RM1.4 billion ($401.9 million) and 33% YoY to RM402.8 million ($115.6 million), respectively. However, the company's headline profit fell 45% YoY to RM768.0 million ($19.5 million) due to the high base in 1Q23 when there was one-off gains of RM862.0 million ($247.4 million) from the sale of International Medical University (IMU).