Manulife US REIT

[winston]

not vested

Maintain NEUTRAL and TP of US$0.86.

We maintain our NEUTRAL recommendation as we see limited upside in light of the weak rental market for US office space over the next 12 months.

MUST offers an attractive 8.2% forward dividend yield.

However, we remain concerned of downward pressure on US office property prices, and the potential impact on its gearing ratio, which last stood at 39.1% as at end-2Q20.

In 1H20, MUST’s property portfolio value dropped to US$2,034.5mn (30 Jun 2020), a drop of 2.9% from US$2,095.0mn (31 Dec 2019).

Source: KGI

[winston]

Manulife US REIT (MUST SP)
Company Update Reiterates Positive View

Manulife US REIT continues to see resilience, underpinned by its quality assets, key locations, long WALE (5.7 years) and Work-Live-Play offerings.

Minimal impact is expected from work-from-home policies and new submarket supply.

On the acquisition front, management has not seen many distressed “Grade A” office assets, although the situation may change if the pandemic is prolonged.

Maintain BUY and target price of US$0.85.

Source: UOBKH

https://research.uobkayhian.com/content ... 6a0968adcf

[winston]

not vested

Still going strong

MUST’s portfolio occupancy was at 94.3% in 3Q20.

There is potential for interest cost savings from debt refinancing in FY21F.

We reiterate our Add rating with a DDM-based TP of US$1.05.

Source: CIMB

https://rfs.cgs-cimb.com/api/download?f ... da109817b3

[winston]

not vested

Manulife US REIT (MUST SP) - Resilient operational performance

Portfolio occupancy remained healthy at 94.3% in 3Q20, albeit a 1.9ppt decline from 2Q20 due to known expiries unrelated to Covid-19.

YTD rental reversions remained at 7.9%.

While leasing momentum is likely to remain soft in 4Q20 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the minimal leases expiry profile of MUST could limit downside risk and provide income stability.

In terms of rental collections, MUST has collected 94% of rents for 3Q20 and 98% YTD Sep 2020.

As U.S. reopens from the lockdowns gradually, we could see rental collection numbers to improve further.

Management expects no direct impact on tax structure post U.S. elections as MUST is exempted from corporate tax.

We continue to like MUST’s resilient portfolio, quality tenants, stable income streams from built-in escalations and minimal lease expiry profile which could help MUST ride over the market turmoil.

We retain our fair value estimate at US$0.84. BUY.

Source: OCBC

[winston]

Analysts still positive on Manulife US REIT despite slow 3Q20

by Lim Hui Jie

Portfolio occupancy declined 1.9 percentage points q-o-q to 94.3%, largely due to known expiries unrelated to Covid-19 and a slowdown in leasing demand.

There are “minimal lease expiries till 2021”, with MUST signing about 217,300 sq ft of leases (no new leases signed in 3Q) at +7.9% rent reversion year-to-date.

Slow collections mainly from food & beverage (F&B), lifestyle and retail tenants.

60% of its tenants from the finance, legal, tech, and healthcare sectors as well as the government, and 96% of its leases by gross rental income having inbuilt rental escalations.

MUST is expecting about US$3 million ($4.04 million) of interest savings expected from refinancing.

MUST has about US$223.7million or 26% in borrowings, at a 3.2% interest up for renewal in FY2021.

Source: The Edge

https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capita ... -slow-3q20

[winston]

vested

Manulife US REIT posts 11.3% lower 2H20 DPU of 2.59 US cents on lower property income and provision for expected credit losses

by Felicia Tan

The manager of Manulife US REIT (MUST) has announced distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.59 US cents (3.455 cents) for the 2HFY2020 ended December, an 11.3% drop from DPU of 2.92 US cents in the corresponding period a year ago.

The lower DPU was mainly attributable to lower distributable income over an enlarged unit base during the half-year period.

2HFY2020 gross revenue grew 1.2% y-o-y at US$95.7 million mainly due to contribution from Capitol, and partly offset by lower rental income from Michelson and Peachtree as well as lower portfolio carpark income.



The REIT reported a net loss of US$7.7 million for 2HFY2020 compared to profit of US$30.9 million in the year before, mainly due to lower NPI and net fair value loss on investment properties and derivatives.

For the FY2020, gross revenue increased by 9.3% y-o-y to US$194.3 million due to contributions from Centerpointe and Capitol.

Accordingly, NPI for the FY2020 was up by 4.6% y-o-y to US$115.8 million due to the same reasons.

As at Dec 31, 2020, the REIT’s occupancy rate stood at 93.4%, with a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 5.3 years.

Source: The Edge

https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capita ... income-and

[winston]

not vested

Impacted by provisions

2H/FY20 DPU of 2.59/5.64UScts below expectations at 42.3%/92.1% of our FY20F forecast.

Adopting a proactive leasing strategy with minimal lease expiries of 5.8% in FY21F.

Reiterate Add with a lower DDM-based TP of US$1.00.

Source: CIMB

https://rfs.cgs-cimb.com/api/download?f ... 22D4F8304D

[winston]

vested

What’s New

2H20 / FY20 DPU declines party due to lower NPI and provision for expected credit losses

Key positives:
i) expresses interest to expand into other asset classes, such as business parks, to
acquire at least 20% of high-growth tenants,
ii) healthy rental collections and low rental relief

Key negatives:
i) occupancies declined in all assets except Capitol,
ii) rental reversions moderated to +0.1% due to mark-to-market leases

Maintain BUY; lower TP to US$0.90

Source: DBS

https://researchwise.dbsvresearch.com/R ... =gaejhkhaa

[winston]

vested

MANULIFE US REIT (MUST SP)

Recommendation : BUY
Fair Value : USD 0.83


RIDING THE RECOVERY OF THE US ECONOMY.

2H20/FY20 DPU down 11.3%/5.4% YoY
FY20 rental reversion was +0.1%
97% of rents collected for FY20

Manulife US REIT’s (MUST) results came in below our expectations on provisions of expected credit losses.

Its FY20 gross revenue and NPI grew 9.3% and 4.6% YoY to USD194.3m and USD115.8m respectively.

2H20 DPU fell 11.3% to 2.59 US cents.

For FY20, DPU was down 5.4% YoY to 5.64 US cents, which forms 95%/91% of our forecast/Bloomberg consensus.

Portfolio occupancy stood at 93.4% which was above US Class A average of 84%.

FY20 rental reversion was +0.1%.

We expect leasing momentum to remain soft in FY21 as tenants reassess their office space requirements, and plan for a very gradual re-entry to the office.

However, MUST’s minimal lease expiry profile in 2021, resilient portfolio with long WALE of 5.3 years, and annual rental escalation of 2.0% could limit downside risk and provide income stability.

With the rollout of vaccines in the US, MUST is poised to benefit from the gradual reopening and recovery of economy.

After adjustments, our fair value estimate decreases marginally from USD0.84 to USD0.83.

Source: OCBC

[winston]

vested

This stock is a "MUST" buy

by Samantha Chiew

Source: The Edge

https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capita ... paign=FREE