Listed Retail REIT targets Grade A malls
#DalipSehgal , Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer at http://NexusMalls Nexus Select Trust, is bullish on Retail REIT, expanding footprint with the acquisition of 3 malls in Hyderabad, a market which continues to perform strongly and deliver growth.
“During the year, we leased 1.1 million square feet achieving our highest ever occupancy of 97.6%,” he said while reporting Nexus Select Trust (NSE: NXST / BSE: 543913), results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 March 2024 https://www.credai.org/home .
NXST, India’s first listed Retail REIT, is targeting the acquisition of 3 Grade-A malls in Hyderabad https://samvrudhieventsandexpos.com/ at an attractive basis of 10% stabilized cap rate.
“Our tenant sales grew by 13% YoY ahead of the market growth. Our net operating income grew by 16% YoY .
“In summary, team has surpassed on the projections related to FY24 and given the strong momentum and positive macro-outlook on Grade A Indian retail https://www.sgx.com/ , we are confident of achieving the FY25 projections,” Sehgal said.
NXST reported strong quarterly operating and financial performance with quarterly tenant sales of INR 28 billion (9% YoY growth) while achieving Rs.120 billion sales on a full year basis which implies 13% YoY growth in FY24. During the quarter, the REIT https://propertylistings.ft.com/ leased 0.26M sf across 181 deals, achieving highest ever occupancy of 97.6%, an improvement by ~130 bps over March 2023.
Sehgal said on 11 May, “FY24 has been an excellent year for us with strong operating and financial performance.
“We have outperformed our projections for FY24 and ended the year with robust performance in the fourth quarter.”
NXST achieved a Net Operating Income of Rs.4,166 million (13% YoY growth) in Q4 FY24; similarly, NOI for FY24 was achieved in-line with the guidance provided.
Backed by a strong balance sheet with low LTV of 14%, attractive debt cost at 8.1% (sequentially reduction of 10 bps), AAA / Stable rating and no near-term large debt maturity, NXST declared a distribution of Rs.3,168 million or Rs.2.09 per unit for Q4 FY24 outperforming the guidance; with this, distribution for FY24 (from our listing on 19th May 2023) amounts to Rs.7.08 per unit /Rs.10,719 million.
NXST has refinanced Rs.9,500 million at ~8.1% (compared to pre-refinancing average debt cost of 8.5%), resulting in annual savings of ~Rs.40 million.
The Board of Directors of Nexus Select Mall Management Private Limited, Manager to the Nexus Select Trust https://www.propertywala.com/ , at its Board Meeting declared that the record date for the Q4 FY24 distribution is 17 May 2024, and the distribution will be paid on or before 24 May 2024
FY25 Guidance (excluding acquisitions): 9% Net Operating Income growth and ~9-10% Distribution growth. fiinews.com
