Dubai: ENBD REIT the Shariah-compliant real estate investment trust managed by Emirates NBD Asset Management Limited has recorded a total asset value (NAV) about AED661 million or AED2.64 per share for the whole year ended March 31, 2021, down 17% on the year.
The fund registered the total value of the property portfolio at about AED1322.32 million, down by 12% compared to the previous year. ENBD REIT’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio stood at 52%.
The asset ascribed the ownward movement on valuations was driven by the double pressing factors of a softening real estate market and pandemic-induced economic pressures that affected gross rental income.
The 2020-21 financial year was challenging, with soft market conditions exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the year, we sought to safeguard occupancy rates to limit downward movement on rental income, while reducing fund and operating expenses throughout the portfolio,” said Anthony Taylor, Head of Real Estate at Emirates NBD Asset Management.
Occupancy in the portfolio stayed solid, with the board giving a scope of solutions to support tenants in genuine financial distress in order to secure income. In the meantime, with an end goal to keep on reducing expenses, the management decreased fund and portfolio management expenses fundamentally, while the Fund profited by lower money costs because of a lower lending rate environment.
ENBD REIT’s board of directors has proposed the last dividend of AED16.16 million or AED0.065 per share – comparable to 2.44 percent of NAV and 4.10 percent of the share price – for the half-year time frame ending March 31, 2021, subject to shareholder approval at the yearly general meeting.
The total dividend to shareholders for the year is AED 33.98 million – comparable to 5.13 percent of the cum-profit NAV and 8.62 percent of the offer cost. Following the AGM and subject to shareholders’ endorsement, the shares will exchange ex-dividend on seventh July 2021, with the record date set as eighth July 2021 and the installment date on 27th July 2021.