3 reasons to like Elite Commercial REIT's maiden acquisition

3 reasons to like Elite Commercial REIT's maiden acquisition
PHOTO: Elite Commercial REIT

Few REITs have been fortunate enough to escape unscathed from the Covid-19 pandemic. There are even fewer that have been able to thrive this year.

Elite Commercial REIT (“Elite”) is one of the fortunate ones.

The REIT’s portfolio consists of 97 mostly freehold commercial buildings located across the UK, taking up around 47 hectares and valued at around GBP 319.1 million (S$565 million) as of Aug 31 2019.

The sole tenant for all these properties is the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the UK’s largest public service department.

This department is responsible for the welfare, pensions and child maintenance for more than 20 million claimants, and is a crucial piece of public infrastructure for the UK government.

Due to the economic crisis, the DWP plans to hire 4,500 more employees to add on to the current 13,000 to cater to rising unemployment.

Another 9,000 need to be hired by March 2021 as the unemployment rate is projected to spike up from the current 4.1 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Elite recently announced its maiden acquisition since its IPO in February this year, adding on to the flurry of acquisitions announced by various REITs such as Suntec REIT and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust in the last few weeks.

Details of the acquisition

Elite will purchase a total of 58 commercial properties, also located across the UK, from one of the subsidiaries of its sponsor.

The agreed value for the transaction is GBP 212.5 million and the properties enjoy 100 per cent occupancy.

The new properties have a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 7.4 years, and the tenants are responsible for all expenses relating to repairs and maintenance for the buildings.

The acquisition will be financed by a combination of debt, consideration units to PartnerRe, an investor in the vendor, and an equity fundraising.

Post-transaction, PartnerRe will become the largest investor in Elite with around 21 per cent stake.

Here are three reasons why we think Elite’s acquisition is a great move.

Reason 1: Diversifying tenant mix

Before the acquisition, Elite only had one sole tenant: DWP.

Although this tenant has proven to be resilient and even had plans to expand its headcount during this crisis, the presence of just a single tenant exposes the REIT to concentration risk.

Of the 58 properties acquired by the REIT, the DWP still makes up around 81.5 per cent of gross rental income (GRI), but the remaining 18.5 per cent is shared between other government agencies.

Some examples include the Ministry of Defence, National Records of Scotland and Natural Resources Wales, which make up 5.6 per cent, 4.8 per cent and 2.9 per cent of GRI, respectively.

Reason 2: Gaining exposure to London

36 per cent of the new properties are located in London, as compared to none in Elite’s original IPO property portfolio.

The advantage of having London properties is that they have higher growth and redevelopment potential and are also more liquid, making them easier to sell if need be.

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Furthermore, all the London assets are on freehold tenure and are on a straight 10-year lease expiring in March 2028, with no break clauses (i.e. the tenant has no contractual right to terminate the lease).

When added to the REIT, London now takes up around 14 per cent of its enlarged portfolio’s asset value.

Investors should note though that one downside of London properties is their lower rental yield of 4.3 per cent versus the existing portfolio’s rental yield of 7.3 per cent.

Reason 3: DPU accretive

Most important of all for income-seeking investors, the acquisition will be accretive to distribution per unit (DPU).

Pro-forma DPU is estimated to rise by 3.2 per cent from 1.95 pence to 2.02 pence for the period Feb 6 till June 30.

Investors will recall that the 1.95 pence declared and paid out when the REIT announced its maiden earnings back in July was 1 per cent higher than the 1.93 pence forecasted.

Get Smart: Enhanced resilience and added diversification

This acquisition by Elite is timely as the pandemic has highlighted the resilient nature of the REIT’s assets.

By having a dominant, counter-cyclical government agency as its key tenant, investors need not worry about possible downtime or the REIT’s assets being under utilised.

Besides, the acquisition comes with a host of benefits as stated above and will also increase DPU for investors.

As the leases come with rental escalation clauses, investors can look forward to increasing DPU over the years through organic growth in GRI.

One risk to watch for is the fluctuating British Pound, as Brexit negotiations have stalled for now.

The movement of the pound will impact the level of distribution investors receive should they elect to receive their DPU in Singapore dollars.

This article was first published in The Smart Investor. Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares in Suntec REIT.

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