Religare DPU of 3.55 cts for Oct 19-March 31 (BT)
RELIGARE Health Trust (RHT) registered a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.55 cents for the period spanning Oct 19, 2012, to March 31, 2013, missing its projected DPU of 3.61 cents.
This represents an annualised yield of 8.75 per cent for unitholders who acquired RHT units during its initial public offering. Based on its closing price yesterday of $0.985, this represents an annualised yield of 8 per cent.
There is no corresponding year-on-year data for comparison as acquisition of the group's portfolio was only completed on Oct 19 last year.
For the period under review, income available for distribution worked out to $20.1 million, missing its forecast by $394,000.
This was largely a result of an increase in operating expenses, which came in at $20.2 million, surpassing its forecast by $1.8 million.
The increase was mainly due to an increase in depreciation expenses as a result of an increase in fixed assets taken over during the acquisition of RHT assets.
Specifically, the commencement of operations at the Gurgaon Clinical Establishment in May resulted in higher expenses, following its soft launch in November last year.
This, however, significantly bolsters RHT's portfolio and will be an important driver of revenue growth going forward, said Religare Health Trust Trustee Manager (RHT TM), the trustee-manager of RHT.
Revenue achieved exceeded expectations, at $49.6 million, which was mainly due to the strong performance of the hospital income segment, driven by higher occupancy rates at RHT's two operating hospitals.
RHT, a unit of India's Fortis Healthcare, has 11 RHT clinical establishments, four greenfield clinical establishments and two operating hospitals throughout India, which were valued at about $748 million as at end-March.
RHT's gearing stands at 9 per cent, with total borrowings of $65.3 million. Net asset value of its portfolio has grown from $685 million as at the IPO to $714 million as at end- March.
Looking ahead, Gupreet Dhillon, the newly appointed chief executive officer of RHT TM, said: "We remain bullish on the Indian healthcare sector, where growth continues to be driven by strong fundamentals, such as positive demographics, rising disposable income and demand for quality healthcare, as well as the under-provision of healthcare services.
"Our exposure to this growing sector puts us in a unique position to grow and continue to deliver returns for our unitholders as we seek to grow both within and outside our current portfolio."
The appointment of Mr Dhillon, who replaces Ravi Mehrotra as chief executive effective immediately, completes RHT TM's commitment to separate the roles of executive chairman and chief executive officer.
Mr Mehrotra continues to serve as chairman at RHT TM.
"Going forward, we are optimistic about the income stream coming from our diverse healthcare assets and in particular the Gurgaon Clinical Establishment, which boasts many firsts among the medical services and facilities being offered in the Indian market," he said.