15 things learned from Starhill Global REIT’s FY2016 AGM

By Adam Wong on November 1, 2016

Starhill Global REIT (SGX:P40U) owns retail and office properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China, and Japan. Among its properties, Singaporeans would be very familiar with two of Starhill’s retail malls –  Ngee Ann City and Wisma Atria along Orchard Road.

Starhill is one of my REIT investments when I purchased it in January this year when Singapore REIT prices took a pounding. It has since returned over 17.7% (including dividends). But, regardless of how positive returns are at the moment, you can be sure that I and the rest of us here at The Fifth Person are keeping a watchful eye on our investments and the prevailing economic climate.

So with the recent news that Singapore’s mall vacancies are at their highest level in a decade, I attended Starhill Global REIT’s recent FY2016 AGM to find out more about how its management planned to navigate the increasingly tough retail conditions.

Here are 15 things I learned from Starhill Global’s FY2016 AGM:

• At first glance, Starhill’s FY2016 results look like they took a tumble. Revenue, net property income (NPI), and distribution per unit (DPU) are all down 25-30%. However, the reason for the drop is because Starhill moved the end of its fiscal year to June. Which means FY2015 figures are calculated over 18 months while FY2016 figures are over 12 months. So if you compare FY2016 with the previous 12-month period, Starhill actually performed better: Gross revenue increased 11.4% to $219.7 million, NPI increased 6.9% to $170.3 million, and DPU increased to 1.4% to 5.18 cents. Starhill’s current yield (TTM) is 6.4%.
• Growth in revenue and NPI was mainly driven by Myer Centre Adelaide which Starhill acquired for A$288 million in 2015. Starhill’s Australia portfolio revenue and NPI grew 120% and 89% respectively. In comparison, Starhill’s Singapore portfolio remained flat with revenue and NPI inching up 1% and 0.6% respectively. Overall, Singapore still contributes the bulk of revenue at 62.6%. Australia and Malaysia contribute 19.5% and 14.6% respectively.
• Starhill Global REIT was one of the first few to venture into Australia in 2010. CEO Ho Sing explained that Australia’s retail scene is “quite strange”. Major retail brands like Uniqlo, Zara, and H&M only entered Australia in 2013-2014 with many major brands yet to enter the country. He believes that this along with changing consumer behavior presents an upside for the retail market in Australia.
• Starhill Global REIT divested its property in Japan, Roppongi Terzo, for ¥2.5 billion.The management also plans to divest the rest of its Japanese properties eventually. The CEO said that Tokyo Olympics in 2020 might drive valuations up and the management will look for divestment opportunities leading up to the Olympics.
• Portfolio valuation grew 0.7% to $3.14 billion. This was mainly due to revaluation gains in the REIT’s Singaporean and Australian properties which were offset by the Roppongi Terzo divestment in Japan and portfolio devaluations in China and Malaysia (due to forex loss).
• Overall occupancy rate is 95.1%. CEO Ho Sing also highlighted the fact that Starhill’s occupancy rates have remained largely resilient even during recessions. During the financial crisis of 2008, Starhill’s Singapore portfolio retail occupancy rate was 98.3%, while its office occupancy rate was 92.4%. Moving forward, there is no new retail or office supply in Singapore’s Orchard Road area from 2016 to 2018.
• Starhill Global REIT’s gearing is at 35% and average cost of debt is 3.09%. Weighted debt to maturity is 3.1 year with a large portion of debt (35% of total debt; $400 million) due to mature in FY2017/2018. 100% of Starhill’s debt is fixed/hedged via a combination of fixed rate debt, interest rate swaps, and interest rate caps.
• A unitholder asked why the REIT’s Malaysia revenue was falling. Chairman Tan Sri Dato (Dr) Francis Yeoh explained that it was due to the weakening ringgit. Lot 10 in Kuala Lumpur is on a master lease with built-in rental reversions for the next three years and that the mall is, in fact, doing well. Lot 10 is located at the prime Bintang Walk area which the Malaysia government has earmarked as a key shopping destination for locals and tourists. The government is also building an MRT station in Bintang Walk which will open right in front of Lot 10 and bring 100 million people in ridership annually. While currency deprecation is a problem, the chairman said “we can’t play God’s role” and control which way foreign exchange rates will go. However, the quality of the asset will endure and revenues will increase.
• Another unitholder asked about the management’s strategy for Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. The chairman replied that Starhill Gallery is a large luxury mall with over 300,000 square feet of retail space. However, there are not enough good luxury brands to fill the mall entirely, thus the management is looking to bring in restaurants and other brands like Apple to attract more blended shopper traffic. On the plus side, the management has convinced Louis Vuitton to build a global store in Starhill Gallery; the only other cities to have a Louis Vuitton global store are Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Major property developments are also being built opposite Starhill Gallery including the headquarters of YTL Corporations (Starhill Global REIT’s sponsor). The chairman admitted that the property is “not (doing) as good as we want it to be” but it will get better.
• A unitholder questioned the management about Starhill’s falling revenues in China. The chairman explained that the Chinese market is extremely competitive. In Chengdu (where Starhill’s Renhe Spring Zongbei property is located), 100 million square feet of new malls were built after Starhill acquired its property. The chairman joked, “When the Chinese build, they build massively and (properties) spring up like mushrooms, and our prime property becomes ‘not-so-prime’ anymore.” He also said that another trend that is hurting sales is the clampdown on corruption and gift-buying. Businessmen in China used to buy gifts as a way of doing business in the past but it is looked upon as corruption now. The good news is that the management has managed to secure one of the largest furniture retailers in China, Markor International Home Furnishings, as an anchor tenant for Renhe Spring Zongbei which will generate more stable revenues. The chairman revealed that he doesn’t think the retail situation in Chengdu will improve and the REIT will look to divest its Chinese property at the right time.
• A unitholder asked where Starhill Global REIT was planning to acquire its next properties. The chairman replied that the REIT will focus on Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia as these are the three markets they know very well. Starhill was ahead in Australia and the management predicted correctly that retail closing hours would extend later (from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) due to the growing Asian population and their shopping habits. For Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the high-speed rail will be good for Starhill’s properties in both cities.
• A unitholder asked what the management planned to do to attract shoppers to its malls. CEO Ho Sing replied that the management is working with relevant agencies like the Orchard Road Business Association to promote events in Orchard Road. He gave examples like the Japan Matsuri Summer Festival where Orchard Road was closed to traffic, the annual Christmas light-up, and the F1 race. The CEO also mentioned the Great Singapore Sale though he said the concept has gotten tired over the years. The chairman then reassured unitholders that the management is aware of the changing spending patterns of customers and online shopping, and doing all it can to attract shoppers. The retail experience has to be crafted better now and be compelling enough to attract people to physically visit a mall, and it is in the interests of the REIT to enhance the sales of its retailers so they can pay higher rents.
• In his presentation, the CEO highlighted that Starhill Global REIT doesn’t own the space occupied by Isetan in Wisma Atria; it belongs to Isetan. The space was closed for renovations for a year which affected shopper traffic in the mall. It has since progressively opened and Isetan also launched Japan Food Town which has improved shopper traffic. During the Q&A, the chairman revealed that he was trying to persuade the Isetan president to launch an All-Japan concept in Wisma Atria that received positive response from shoppers when it was launched in Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur. He mentioned things like Honda robots and ikebana classes that attracted shoppers in Malaysia and he brought this back to his point about creating unique and compelling retail experiences for shoppers. If this concept was executed in Singapore, it would complement the mall and be very good for Wisma Atria without the REIT having to spend any money.
• A unitholder asked if the management was considering an investment in Jurong due to the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail (HSR). The chairman joked that the HSR was his idea but he doesn’t know if the government will pay him a royalty for it! He then digressed and said that Kuala Lumpur, long-term, is a good market where property prices are still attractive. If Malaysia can get its politics rights, Kuala Lumpur would be a compelling city to invest in. He said condominium prices in Kuala Lumpur are, prime-to-prime, 600% cheaper compared to Singapore. But the level of architects is the same and the building materials come from Malaysia anyway! With the HSR, the chairman views that KL prices will converge toward Singapore’s in time like how prices in London and Paris converged with the London-Paris line. The unitholder keenly asked the chairman if he would invest in Kuala Lumpur then. The chairman said yes but currency depreciation is a concern and the management has to take a long-term view of whether a property will be yield-accretive over 5-10 years after taking that into account.
• Finally, a unitholder then asked the chairman what his views were on the Singapore property market moving forward. The chairman replied that he has been through many property cycles as a property developer himself but that this particular cycle was ‘broken’. The Singapore government had to control property speculation and inflation here like in China. The worry for the government at the time was that average Singaporeans were complaining that they couldn’t afford a home. Due to the printing of money by foreign governments, foreign buyers with an influx of cash speculated on private properties driving their prices up — which, in turn, pulled HDB prices up. The government had to introduce cooling measures to cut the speculation because, even though they welcome foreign investment, they didn’t want Singaporeans to suffer from sky-high property prices. However, the chairman thinks that the government has overdone the cooling measures and the market is almost dead for foreign buyers. He shared that a lot of property developers are in trouble and face heavy penalties of $30-40 million if they can’t sell their developments on time. But they have no market to sell to. He views that the government should readjust its policies to encourage more economic activity and he is optimistic that the government is watchful and that they won’t fall asleep on this. The chairman revealed that the high-end property market is the worse he has ever seen in the last few years and feels that it can’t get any worse. If it does, there will be collateral problems with banks and loans which he believes the government will take into account and not allow to happen. Lastly, he advised everyone to be patient and that the change won’t be immediate, but it is his personal view that it will become better than what it is today.

我在IB的新加坡房託組合

筆者經過兩個月時間，初步建立了自己的新加坡房託收息組合。收到第一次的派息，大都集中在八月份，沒有任何扣減稅項。新加坡房託多是每季派息，三個月收息一次，眨眼間又是下次收成期，很有滿足感覺。頻繁派息，令人不太介意每日股價上落，只要不是跌太多就可以了。這段期間，組合不計派息輕微增長了3%，算是意外收獲！期間利息支出只佔股息收入2成不到！IB的報表詳盡，很清楚列出要付的利息及應收的股息，方便核對。我的S reits的借貸比率是60%，並未用盡，有15%buffer！借的是坡紙，買的是新加坡資產，對沖了大部份匯率風險。IB的操作很暢順，用message centre提出問題也覆得快，解決很多初期的不明白。上手了都幾好玩！期間有少許不如意事就是Mapletree Commercial Trust供股，海外股東無得供，卻又不能買賣供股權，見財化水，透過IB和基金經理交涉，海外機構投資者可以供，散戶則不能，平白損失了機會。供股價是S$1.41，正股價是S$1.52😞！猶幸供股後股價沒有回落，還升了不少(S$1.63)，也算是有安慰😊！這段時間花了很多時間學習操作IB，筆者太太有輕微怨語，少了時間和她談心😊希望以後熟習後可以少花時間在操作上，多享受家庭之樂。

9 things learned from Mapletree Commercial Trust’s 2016 EGM

By Adam Wong on August 2, 2016
文章連結

On 5 July 2016, Mapletree Commercial Trust (SGX: N2IU) (MCT) announced a proposed acquisition of an office and business park property, Mapletree Business City (MBC), for a purchase consideration of $1.78 billion. This will be MCT’s second acquisition since its IPO.

As a unitholder myself, I attended the extraordinary general meeting MCT held immediately after itsFY2016 AGM to find out more details about the proposed acquisition and to vote on the proposed resolutions.

Here are 9 things I learned from Mapletree Commercial Trust’s 2016 EGM:

1. MCT is acquiring Phase 1 of MBC

MCT is acquiring Phase 1 of MBC which comprises an office tower and three business park blocks. Phase 1 was completed in April 2010 while Phase 2 of MBC is currently under development and is due for completion this year. The leasehold for MBC (Phase 1) is 80 years till 2096.

2. Total acquisition cost is $1.86 billion

The purchase consideration is $1.78 billion which is a 2.3% and 2.8% discount to DTZ’s and Knight Frank’s independent valuation of MBC respectively. The total acquisition cost, however, is $1.86 billion after including acquisition fees paid to the manager ($8.9 million paid in units), stamp duty to the government ($53.4 million), and estimated professional fees and expenses ($16.2 million).

3. Acquisition is NAV and DPU accretive

The acquisition is expected to be accretive for net property income (NPI) yield, NAV, and distribution per unit (DPU). NPI yield will increase from 5.1% to 5.2%. NAV per share will increase to $1.31 and DPU will rise from 4.14 cents to 4.27 cents.

4. Exposure to the Alexandra/HabourFront office market

The management views MBC as a strategic addition to its portfolio. The property is of the largest integrated office and business park complexes in Singapore. It is located 10 minutes from the central business district (CBD) and directly connected to Labrador Park MRT station.

It attracts tenants who wish to be located near the CBD without having to pay sky-high rents. The Alexandra/HabourFront area offers rents which are 28.8% and 8.5% lower than Grade-A and Grade-B Core CBD offices respectively. Average office rent at MBC is $6.14 per square foot per month.

Historically, prime office rents in Alexandra/HabourFront are also less volatile resilient than Grade-A and Grade-B Core CBD office rents.

5. Exposure to growing business park segment

Mapletree Business City is the closest business park to the CBD and the growing demand for business parks is evident in MNCs like Google, American Express, HSBC, Nike, SAP, Samsung and Unilever relocating from the CBD to MBC.

Singapore business park rents are also extremely stable compared to office rents and there is no new business park supply expected until 2020. Average business park rent at MBC is $5.88 per square foot.

6. Committed occupancy rate is at 99.0%

MBC is a large property with a total net lettable area (NLA) of 1,708,218 square feet comprising 420,544 square feet in offices and 1,287,674 square feet in the business park. Even so, occupancy levels as at 30 April 2016 is 97.8%, while the committed occupancy rate is 99.0%. Weighted average lease expiry is 3.5 years and 97.5% of leases have average annual rental step-ups of around 3%.

7. Acquisition to be financed by a combination of debt and equity

MBC’s total acquisition cost of S$1.86 billion will be funded by loan facilities of up to $920 million and an issue of up to 795 million new units via a private placement to institutional investors and preferential offering to existing unitholders.

8. Some unitholders had questions and concerns

One unitholder felt that the acquisition was not in the interest of minority unitholders. He agreed that MBC was a good asset but thought that the acquisition price was too high and, as a result, the DPU accretion too low. He questioned why the management had to make the acquisition at this point in time when the office sector is soft and suggested that the deal might be better suited when the office sector improves.

Chairman Tsang Yam Pui expressed surprise at the unitholder’s view as many investors have long asked when MBC would be acquired by MCT. Tsang explained that an asset of MBC’s quality is hard to find and would be very expensive in the open market. The fact that MCT is able to acquire the property at a price that allows for DPU and NAV accretion is a positive for unitholders. The property would also give good organic growth in the long run. The chairman also said that a good time to acquire a good asset is when you can get it at the right price. In the case of MBC, MCT is already acquiring it a discount to the valuation set by two independent valuers.

Another unitholder asked if the supply of nearby office properties like Alexandra Technopark and Fragrance Building (formerly NOL Building) would affect MBC. CEO Sharon Lim replied that in the next four years, only 4% of office leases at MBC are expiring in FY2018/19. Furthermore, the quality of an asset like MBC is a world of difference compared to the rest.

A unitholder jokingly asked if the sale of MBC was being ‘forced’ onto MCT by its sponsor Mapletree. The Chairman reassured the unitholder that the acquisition is a case of a willing buyer and a willing seller. But he noted that the deal is a related party transaction which is why the management has gone through the procedure of obtaining independent valuations and the transaction scrutinized by its independent directors.

9. The proposed acquisition was voted through

The proposed acquisition of MBC was approved at the EGM with 95.51% of votes in favor of the resolution. MCT has since announced they plan to raise $529.1 million from the private placement and $515.2 million from the preferential offering.

Current unitholders are entitled to 17 new units for every 100 existing units at an issue price of $1.42 per unit. The issue price is an 8.4% discount to MCT’s last traded price of $1.55 (as at 1 August 2016). Unitholders can also apply for excess units. Books closure date is 3 August 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

投資REITS及債券的槓干融資平台

筆者開始投資香港和星加坡的REITS，也打算將來投資其他地方的REITS，構成一個房地產信託基金的組合，作為我整個投資組合的重要部份。嘗試比較不同的證券公司和銀行，希望找到一個有效率的投資平台，方便入貨，收息和管理。

我一向有用開耀x，輝x的戶口買賣港股。這兩家也有提供環球證券買賣和收息服務。自然首先考慮它們的收費。以星加坡REITS來說，耀X收0.16%(最低20坡元)，佣金較平。輝X則收0.28%至0.38%(最低33坡元)。我最後選擇了耀x購入第一批新加坡REITS。結算時驚訝地發覺他們報的匯率和我在yahoo網上得的有很大出入，所以直接和盤房聯絡，要求同時報Bid 和Ask。居然spread有2%之多！忍痛結匯之餘也想想將來可能換馬，一出一入影響很大，所以又去輝x詢問他們的結匯報價，可能輝x是新加坡公司，差價合理很多。總計支出也平過耀x。

這次交了學費也很值得，以前沒有考慮兌換問題，只考慮佣金多少，原來買賣外地證券這個因素也非常重要。耀x不提供星加坡證券margin,輝立有但利息高，兩者都不是槓干融資之選。

我以前買美股時用過一間美國券商，後來無玩美股就差不多忘記了。這家公司全線上操作，香港有辦事處。平台操作多樣化，可塑性超高，但對我來說太複雜，很吃力去搞清楚每一個環節，深怕按錯掣搞錯冇哂D錢。這次我再上去操作平台看看有否作為，居然發覺有以下驚喜:

1)非美股，即港股和星加坡股收0.08%佣金(最低收HK$18或2.5坡元)，澳洲日本佣金亦是0.08%，買美國REITS ETF VNQ也是US$1佣金，方便全球佈局。

2)兌換差價非常低,USD/HKD和USD/SGD的差價是小數點後第四個位。每次不論交易多少，劃一收US$2佣金。

3)Almost 所有香港和新加坡REITS margin融資可做到70%，比私銀還要好

4)Margin 融資利率低，借美金坡紙比我用開的私銀還要低
HKD 借$0 - 780,000 2.555% (BM + 2.5% )
$780,000.01 - 7,800,000 2.055% (BM + 2% )
$7,800,000.01 - 780,000,000 1.555% (BM + 1.5%)

SGD 借 $0 -150,000 (1.5% (BM + 1.5% ))

 $150,000.01 -1,500,000(1% (BM + 1%))

 $1,500,000.01 -150,000,000 ,(0.5% (BM + 0.5%))

USD 借$0 -100,000  --------------1.9% (BM + 1.5% )

$100,000.01 -1,000,000 ----1.4% (BM + 1%)

$1,000,000.01 - 3,000,000--0.9% (BM + 0.5% )

$3,000,000.01 - 200,000,000-----Greater of 0.5% or(BM+ 0.25%)

5)S&P給這證券公司評級是BBB+，展望正面，資產50億美元。評級比香港很多銀行還要高。

6)有不同topic的web-seminar可以幫助你了解操作方法，當中有英文，國語，廣東話

7)海量的資訊提供和各式操作手法，適合好學兼精力無限的投資者！

8)可買賣超過3000隻美國債券，包括國庫債券，投資級及非投資級債券，也有30-90%的融資額。(這方面操作筆者還未懂，需要多點了解，但看到投資潛力很大，畢竟債券市場比股票大)

缺點

1)轉錢入香港銀行自己戶口即時在網上做到。惟存錢入證券戶口則比較麻煩，要親身拿支票或郵寄去公司，而且一定要自己名開的支票。
2)平台不易操作，雖有中文平台，但翻譯較差，如不熟英文比較難明白。筆者也要花很多時間去掌握。總算初步識落簡單的指示和貨幣兌換，買了些新加坡REITS
3看完menu都不明白，可打電話問，香港客戶服務一般英文對答，冇廣東話，如懂國語，可打去上海問。筆者兩次電話詢問都可以解決到疑難，算是滿意的！
4)始終全線上操作，心有些不踏實，不像在香港去耀x地舖，見到摸到！

其他優點缺點，有待同好一切發掘。筆者分享這次買新加坡REITS經驗，是盼望更多融資收息朋友一起研究，補充個人的盲點。再者，筆者認識很多較年輕朋友，因未達私人銀行開戶資格而沮喪，不能進入債券及REITS融資收息之門，所以希望找到到一個合適平台，讓大家參考，盼望早日達到財務自由！如發現錯誤，或有更好平台，歡迎指教！😂