BHG Retail Reit H2 DPU falls 72% to S$0.0007

[SINGAPORE] BHG Retail Reit on Friday (Feb 27) reported a 72 per cent decline in distribution per unit (DPU) for the second half of 2025, alongside lower net property income (NPI).

The China-focused retail real estate investment trust’s (Reit) DPU for the six months ended Dec 31, 2025 fell to S$0.0007 from S$0.0025 in the year-ago period. The lower DPU came on the back of lower distributable income, with the amount to be distributed to unitholders falling 74.5 per cent year-on-year to S$326,000.

The Reit reported a decline in revenue in the second half of 2025, amounting to S$27 million – down 8.8 per cent. Lower property operating expenses during the period, down 11.4 per cent to S$13 million, partially offset this, but NPI still experienced a year-on-year decrease of 6.2 per cent to S$14 million from S$15 million in H2 FY2024.

The Reit’s finance costs fell 14.8 per cent to S$7.9 million in H2 FY2025, from S$9.3 million in the same period a year earlier, mainly due to lower interest expenses on floating rate loans and the repayment of loan principal.

For the full year, the income to be distributed to unitholders fell 42.8 per cent to S$1.5 million, while DPU slipped to S$0.0029 from S$0.0050 in FY2024.

The manager attributed the weaker distribution mainly to one-time expenses incurred during the syndication loan roll-over in March 2025.

For the full year, revenue fell 9.6 per cent to S$55.1 million, while NPI slipped 11.6 per cent to S$29 million. Finance costs were down 16.7 per cent in FY2025, falling to S$16.1 million from S$19.3 million in FY2024. The total loss for the year after taxation attributable to unitholders was S$1.8 million, an improvement from the S$2.3 million loss reported in FY2024.

Chan Iz-Lynn, chief executive officer of the manager, noted that the manager remains focused on maintaining portfolio stability.

“The manager will continue to execute its strategy of proactive asset management, prudent capital management and sustainable value creation for unitholders,” she said.

The portfolio occupancy rate stood at 93.4 per cent as at Dec 31, 2025, lower than 95.8 per cent a year earlier. BHG’s gearing ratio stood at 41.6 per cent with an average cost of debt of 4.2 per cent.

According to the financial statements, the consolidated interest coverage ratio of the group was 1.7 times, which remained above the regulatory minimum of 1.5 times.

The group’s current liabilities amounted to S$58.1 million as at Dec 31, 2025, a significant drop from S$336.1 million a year earlier. This decrease was primarily because the group and the Reit successfully rolled over their offshore secured borrowing facilities of S$252 million.

The new facilities will mature in March 2028 and March 2030, successfully moving these obligations from current to non-current liabilities.

Net asset value per unit fell to S$0.68 as at December 2025, from S$0.72 a year earlier.

Units of BHG Retail Reit rose 1.1 per cent to close S$0.005 at S$0.445.