Tan-led MREIT declares cash dividends, vows more payouts
Billionaire Andrew Tan’s real estate investment trust (REIT) arm MREIT Inc. pledged on Monday to maintain “competitive returns” for investors as it announced a cash dividend payout for next month and plans to further expand its property footprint.
MREIT, backed by Tan-led property giant Megaworld Corp., declared dividends of P0.2428 per share, which was based on earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022.
These will be payable on Feb. 15 to stockholders on record as of Jan. 24 this year.
“We remain committed on delivering competitive returns to our shareholders through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions,” Kevin Tan, MREIT president and CEO, said in a statement.
MREIT said the latest payout would bring total 2022 dividends to P0.9770 per share. This represents a yield of 7.1 percent as of its closing share price last Friday.
“MREIT will continue to declare quarterly dividends to its shareholders,” said the REIT firm, which is required by law to declare at least 90 percent of income as dividends to shareholders.
The company aims to further expand after recently announcing an “accelerated growth plan” to upsize its gross leasable area (GLA) to 500,000 square meters by the end of 2024 from about 280,000 square meters as of September 2022.
4 more properties
It will also diversify its tenant mix to include the industrial, logistics and warehousing segments.
Last April, MREIT announced the acquisition of an additional four properties worth P5.3 billion. This will increase its GLA to nearly 325,000 square meters.
While announced last year, the assets have yet to be injected into MREIT because the acquisition is still subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We aim to complete within this quarter our planned acquisitions announced last year. Once complete, income from these assets will be recognized retroactively beginning Jan. 1 of this year,” Tan said.
He added the assets would increase MREIT’s property value by 9 percent to P64.5 billion and “provide added growth in line with our promise to deliver sustainable value to our shareholders.”
