AmFirst Real Estate Investment Trust (AmFirst REIT) saw non-renewal and downsizing of tenancies at Bangunan AmBank Group, Menara AmBank, Wisma AmFIRST and The Summit Office in the three months through March 2024.

However, the decrease in the fund manager's gross revenue was offset by increase in the occupancy rate from The Summit Retail Mall.

In an exchange filing today, AmFirst REIT said its net profit surged more than 209% to RM18.0 million in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024 (4Q24), from RM5.81 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share increased to 2.62 sen from 0.84 sen.

Its quarterly revenue was marginally down to RM25.6 million, attributed to lower average occupancy at its properties.

For the full year ended March 31, 2024 (FY24), its net profit was up 80% to RM25.6 million on a revenue of RM101.4 million, down 2% from the year before.

The group declared an income distribution per unit of 1.18 sen for investors, covering the six-month period from Oct 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Out of this distribution, 1.17 sen per unit is subject to withholding tax, while 0.01 sen per unit is tax exempt or non-taxable.

Moving forward, it said the office market remained challenging due to oversupply in the office market while the retail sector was forecasted to grow at a moderate level amidst dampening in consumer demand brought about by review of government subsidies and increase in service tax.

It said it would continue to adopt appropriate capital and asset management strategies that are centred on intensifying leasing effort, cost optimisation and implementation of selective asset enhancement initiatives to improve the asset portfolio yield.

AmFirst REIT has eight properties under its portfolio which also include Prima 9 and Prima 10 in Cyberjaya, Selangor; Jaya 99 in Malacca and Mydin Hypermall in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

Its share price today closed at 33 sen with a market capitalistaion of RM223 million.