Parkway Reit Q2 income beats forecast

July 26, 2008
Parkway Reit Q2 income beats forecast
By UMA SHANKARI

PARKWAY Life Real Estate Investment Trust (P-Reit) yesterday
announced a distributable income of $10.0 million for the second
quarter ended June 30, 2008, beating its forecast of $9.4 million by
6.4 per cent.

Distribution per unit (DPU) for the three months was 1.66 cents, also
6.4 per cent higher than the forecast DPU of 1.56 cents.

Net property income for Q2 was $11.7 million, 8.1 per cent higher
than the trust's forecast of $10.8 million.

There is no comparable period for 2007 as P-Reit was only listed on
the Singapore Exchange in August last year.

The trust benefited from higher gross rental revenue in Q208 as a
result of better-than-expected revenue from its Singapore hospital
assets, as well as additional income from three new Japanese assets.

Q2 gross rental revenue was $12.5 million. The bulk of it came from
the trust's Singapore hospitals, where total gross rental revenue was
$12.0 million, a 4.3 per cent increase from the forecast figure of
$11.5 million.

For the first six months of 2008, the trust's distributable income
was $19.8 million while the DPU was 3.29 cents - both 5.1 per cent
higher than the forecast.

Justine Wingrove, chief executive of P-Reit's management team, said
that the private healthcare sector continues to remain robust even in
the current volatile market conditions.

'As a result, P-Reit will not only enjoy strong growth from its
current portfolio, but will also benefit from attractive asset
acquisition opportunities,' she noted. Target markets for
acquisitions include Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia,
Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, Ms Wingrove added.

The Reit's total portfolio size now stands at $902.2 million,
following acquisition of its latest assets earlier this year. In May
2008, P-Reit bought a pharmaceutical products distributing and
manufacturing facility as well as two nursing homes in Japan for $70
million in all.

P-Reit lost three cents to close at $1.12 yesterday. The stock has
shed 0.9 per cent since the start of the year.