Manulife US Reit to sell Plaza office building for US$40 million as H2 distributable income falls 57.6%

THE manager of Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) reported on Thursday (Feb 20) that its distributable income fell 57.6 per cent to US$15.4 million from US$36.3 million in the year-ago period, with its revenue and net property income (NPI) declining.

MUST reported a 57.6 per cent decline in adjusted distributable income per unit to US$0.87, from US$2.05 in the corresponding year-ago period.

Revenue for H2 FY2024 fell 25.5 per cent to US$80.8 million from US$108.5 million the prior year, while NPI decreased 37.4 per cent to US$37.1 million from US$59.2 million previously.

Adjusted distributable income fell 57.6 per cent to US$15.4 million, or US$0.87 per unit from US$36.3 million or US$2.05 per unit from the corresponding year-ago period.

For the full year, revenue was down 19.4 per cent at US$167.6 million from US$208 million; NPI fell 30.3 per cent to US$79.9 million from US$114.6 million.

It also announced that the Reit is selling its 500 Plaza office building at a sale price of S$51.75 million to an unrelated third-party purchaser. The property is located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

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This divestment, along with other ongoing asset sale discussions, will contribute towards the Reit manager’s plan to repay 2026 debts of approximately US$204 million by June 30, 2025.

“We are currently in divestment discussions on additional properties which will further contribute towards debt repayment. To achieve this, we are taking a disciplined approach to meet our obligations while carefully evaluating interest from potential buyers,” it said.

The manager said it will continue repositioning the portfolio through growth and diversification, seeking to make accretive investments that enhance distributions and grow the net asset value of the portfolio.

“Upon repayment of our 2026 debts, we will leverage our Sponsor’s global real estate platform to focus on growth opportunities through accretive acquisitions to deliver sustained value to unitholders. The Sponsor’s on-the-ground transaction expertise, market research capabilities and weekly discussions on the robust pipeline enable us to support the REIT’s long-term growth,” it said.

“With these inhouse capabilities, we will be able to capitalise on value opportunities in a dislocated U.S. real estate market.”

Units of MUST were trading 2.1 per cent or US$0.002 lower at US$0.094.