CREIT’s income rose 2% in first quarter

By Alena Mae S. Flores – May 15, 2023, 7:33 pm
from manilastandard.net

Citicore Energy REIT Corp. said Monday net income went up 2 percent in the first three months to P304.96 million from P300.30 million in the same period last year.

CREIT said in a disclosure to the stock exchange higher financing costs arising from its green bond issuance affected its net income despite higher revenues during the period.

The company’s maiden ASEAN green bond issuance which was rated PRS Aa+ by Philippine Rating  Services Corp. is set to mature in February 2028 with a coupon rate of  7.0453 percent, increasing finance costs to P49.72 million from P4.38 million.

Lease revenues recorded a 13-percent increase to P376.45 million from P331.79 million in the same period last year, driven by new lease contracts from newly-acquired parcels of land from the proceeds of the ASEAN green bond issuance.

The new lease contracts contributed 11 percent to total lease revenues.

CREIT said its newly-acquired Batangas property increased CREIT’s land area to 3,400,000 square meters as of March 31, 2023, solidifying its position as the largest landlord for renewable energy real estate properties at 5,400,000 sq. m. of leasable space.

CREIT’s newly-acquired parcels of land in Batangas are leased out to affiliate solar power developers at 100-percent occupancy

“CREIT’s investment strategy is focused on adding value-accretive assets to its clean and green real estate portfolio,” said CREIT president and chief executive Oliver Tan.

CREIT earlier declared dividends amounting to P0.047 per share for the quarter, or 6.8 percent higher than in the same period last year.  It is the largest cash dividend declaration since its listing in  2022.

Citicore Renewable  Energy Corp., CREIT’s parent firm, held the groundbreaking in March on the largest solar power plant in Batangas province.

The project is expected to be completed in two phases over two years.

“We see a clear path to grow CREIT’s green asset portfolio with potential assets for infusion of land parcels coming from CREC’s five gigawatt project pipeline and commitment to start building a one gigawatt every year for the next five years,” said Tan.