Citicore Energy REIT profit soared 660% in 9 months
Business tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Citicore Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT) booked a profit surge of more than 660 percent in the first nine months of the year on strong land lease revenues.
Net income from January to September this year reached P906.5 million from P118.6 million during the same period last year, the company’s latest financial report showed. Revenues grew almost five times to P997 million.
CREIT earlier shifted its main revenue source from electricity sales to more stable property rentals. The company’s land portfolio spans nearly 200 hectares, which are leased to solar power plants.
“The guaranteed and recurring revenues from CREIT’s 100 percent occupancy and long-term lease contracts with cycle-resilient solar plant operators protect us even during adverse market conditions, and allow us to reward our shareholders with a steady dividend stream despite market uncertainties,” company president and CEO Oliver Tan said in a statement.
CREIT declared cash dividends of P0.044 per share last Nov. 9, 2022, representing income from the third quarter. The dividends would be paid on Jan. 4 next year to shareholders on record as of Dec. 9 this year.
The company has paid 107 percent of distributable income to investors since the start of year. This was above the mandatory 90 percent required of real estate investment trusts, the statement showed.
“The REIT business model of leasing assets proves to be very efficient, with operating and net income margins higher at 92 percent and 91 percent respectively as of September 2022 vs 64 percent and 62 percent in the previous year,” Tan explained.
“This enables us also to generate higher income and share a bigger portion of our distributable income with our shareholders, compared with other investment alternatives,” he added.
Tan said they were looking to expand their asset portfolio further by acquiring real estate that was ideal for utility-scale solar power generation.
CREIT is backed by Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., one of the pioneers in solar power generation with a project pipeline of over 3,000 Megawatts in the next five years.
The company earlier announced plans to raise up to P4.5 billion through its maiden Asean green bond sale.
Proceeds rom the offer would be used to expand the property portfolio by another 500 hectares, which will be leased to solar power generators and operators.
The proposed bond sale was given a strong credit score of PRS Aa+ by the Philippine Rating Services Corp.
