Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 Financial Results: How Did It Perform?

Keppel DC REIT Q4 2023

Recently, Keppel DC REIT’s unit price has taken a hit due to the possible bankruptcy of one of its major tenants. Let us look into Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023’s financial results to see how the REIT has performed.

Keppel DC REIT is a data center REIT with exposure to nine countries: Singapore, Australia, Ireland, China, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, and Malaysia. Its largest exposure is in Singapore, which is considered the more ‘premium’ data center location.

 

Financial Summary

Let us compare Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 results with last year’s period.

2H 2023 2H 2022 Change
Gross Revenue $140.7m $141.8m -0.7%
Property Expenses ($23.2m) ($12.5m) +85.6%
Net Property Income  $117.6m $129.3m -9.1%
Finance Income $5.4m $5.1m +4.8%
Finance Costs ($25.8m) ($18.0m) +43.5%
Distributable Income $76.4m $93.7m -18.5%
DPU 4.332 cents 5.165 cents -16.1%

In summary, this is a weak result for Keppel DC REIT. Gross revenue declined by 0.7% to $140.7m. Property expenses jumped by a whopping 85.6%, from $12.5m to $23.2m. The loss allowance for uncollected rental income from the Guangdong data centers led to an increase in property expenses. The potential loss from these Guangdong DCs was already flagged in the previous financial update and started to be realized in this latest result. We finally started to see the impact of this large tenant in Guangdong DCs. The uncollected rental and coupon income of ~5.5 months and recoveries impacted FY2023’s DPU by 0.649 cents. Ouch!

We also saw finance costs climbing significantly from $18m to $25.8m, a jump of 43.5%. This is somewhat expected as the high-interest rate environment forced all REITs to refinance at a much higher rate.

The resulting DPU declined by 16.1% to 4.332 cents, down from 5.165 cents in 2H FY2022.

Overall, this is a disappointing result, and it seems the REIT’s price action in the past months has reflected this anticipated weak earning results.

 

Debt Profile

Let’s compare Keppel DC REIT’s Q4 2023 result with its Q3 2023 result:

Q4 2023 Q3 2023 Change
Aggregate Leverage Ratio 37.4% 37.2% +0.2%
Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR) 4.7x 5.4x -0.7x
Average Cost of Debt 3.6% 3.5% +0.1%
Weighted Average Debt Tenor 3.4 years 3.7 years -0.3 years
% of Borrowings Hedged

to Fixed Rates

74% 72% +2%

Keppel DC REIT’s debt profile continued to weaken further last quarter. The aggregate leverage ratio climbed 0.2% to 37.4%. This is after a climb of 0.9% in the previous quarter. The interest coverage ratio (ICR) also declined again from 5.4x to 4.7x. The ICR was still at 6.0 times back in Q2 2023. The good news is that the percentage of borrowing hedged to fixed rates increased slightly to 74%, which will minimize the impact of interest rate movement on the REIT’s bottom line.

Despite the deterioration in its debt profile, Keppel DC REIT’s debt profile is still relatively healthy overall. The aggregate leverage ratio of 37.4% is still far from the regulatory limit of 50%. Regardless, we will continue to monitor the REIT’s debt profile in the upcoming financial updates.

 

Debt Maturity Distribution

Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 - Debt Maturity Distribution
Source: Keppel DC REIT Analysis page

The good news is that only 4% of the refinancing obligation is due in FY2024 and 7% in FY2025. Even if the higher interest rate environment persists for the next two years, the impact on the Keppel DC REIT’s financing costs should be limited.

 

Portfolio Occupancy

Here is the summary of Keppel DC REIT’s portfolio occupancy between Q4 2023 and Q3 2023:

Q4 2023 Q3 2023
Portfolio Occupancy 98.3% 98.3%
WALE 7.6 years 7.8 years

The portfolio occupancy was stable at 98.3%, unchanged from the previous quarter. The REIT managed to secure rental renewal positive reversions.

Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 - Lease Expiry Distribution

The chart above shows the lease expiry distribution for Keppel DC REIT. One thing to note is that 27.5% of rental income is due for renewal in 2024, and another 22.9% is due in 2025. This means more than 50% of renewal is due within the next two years, which is quite a significant percentage.

Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 - Top Clients

Another thing to note is that the REIT’s largest client accounts for 35% of the rental income. It is very top-heavy, and the rest account for no more than 8% each. The recent predicament involving Keppel DC REIT’s primary tenant in Guangdong DCs has highlighted the substantial impact that a major tenant can have on the REIT’s financial performance. Therefore, a more equal distribution of the client base would be preferable.

 

Remarks

In summary, this Keppel DC REIT 2H 2023 financial result is on the weaker side. The REIT’s bottom line was impacted significantly by the ongoing issue with its Guangdong DC tenant. The REIT’s debt profile also continued to weaken further last quarter. On the positive side, the REIT has minimal refinancing obligations for FY2024 and FY2025, which should limit the impact on the refinancing costs should the higher interest rate environment stay for longer.

We will closely monitor Keppel DC REIT’s debt profile in the future, as it has displayed continued signs of weakening in the past several quarters.

Additionally, we would also like to monitor the developments surrounding the REIT’s Guangdong DC issue to gauge the potential for a favorable resolution.

For more information about Keppel DC REIT, please visit our Keppel DC REIT analysis page and our Keppel DC REIT dividend page.

You may also check out our Singapore REITs’ data page to analyze other REITs.

Related page: 2H2023 Presentation Slide

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Disclaimer: The information provided here is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, trading advice, or any other advice or recommendation of any sort.

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David Ang

About David Ang

A long-term investor with a portfolio across the United States and Asian equities, REITs, commodities, and fixed incomes. After over a decade of hands-on investing (and making countless mistakes), I'm excited to use this platform to share what I've learned over the years. And let's continue to learn together. Writing about macro economy, equities, personal finance, web3. Follow me on Twitter: @danggaku