First Reit H1 reports lower 2025 DPU of S$0.0113 on FX depreciation and enlarged unit base
This comprises the Q1 2025 DPU of S$0.0058, which was paid on Jun 26, and Q2 2025 DPU of S$0.0055, which will be paid on Sep 25.
Rental and other income for H1 2025 fell 2.9 per cent to S$50.5 million from S$52 million in H1 2024. This was mainly driven by the depreciation of the rupiah and yen against the Singapore dollar, and partially offset by higher rental income from assets in Indonesia and Singapore.
As a result, net property and other income also fell in tandem, down 2.7 per cent to S$48.9 million in H1 2025 from S$50.3 million in H1 2024. Distributable amount fell 4.8 per cent to S$23.8 million in H1 2025 from S$25 million in H1 2024 on the same foreign currency depreciation.
The fall in DPU was driven by these factors and an enlarged unit base from issuance of units as payment of management fees to the manager.
The gearing ratio for First Reit rose slightly to 41.2 per cent, and interest coverage ratio remained at 3.7 times. The real estate investment trust has no refinancing requirements until May 2026, and has adopted hedging strategies to protect net cash flows from Indonesia and Japan.
Currency volatility is expected to persist across Asia, influenced by the ongoing global trade uncertainties and domestic fiscal challenges. The rupiah and yen have both depreciated this year, with Bank Indonesia intervening in June and Bank of Japan signalling caution over additional rate hikes.
'The volatility and depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah against the Singapore dollar moderated our distributable income for the first half of 2025, despite Indonesia properties achieving a 5.5 per cent increase in rental income in local currency terms. This necessitates our continued focus on actively managing foreign currency risks and our capital management strategy,' said Victor Tan, executive director and CEO of the manager.
Units of First Reit closed unchanged at S$0.28 on Tuesday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
SMEs ‘ideal catalysts for social change', says Top International CEO
[SINGAPORE] When some towkays from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) get together, it is not always to cut deals or to putt on the fairway. At least not for Victor Tan, CEO of TOP International, a mining and resources company headquartered in Singapore. The 40-year-old managed to gather his counterparts from various SMEs, which include Mlion Corporation and Shield, to raise more than S$150,000 this year to subsidise transport costs for students from underprivileged backgrounds. The initiative, Kindness Warrior, stemmed from the CEO's formative years and to his knowledge, is among the first of its kind in Singapore where leaders from various SMEs come together to give back to society. Tan said: 'I grew up in Johor Bahru. During my years in school, I had the opportunity to see the work that Robert Kuok (also known as the Sugar King of Asia) was doing through initiatives in my school. 'It wasn't loud of flashy, it was quiet and impactful. I became inspired to learn more about his philanthropic work. It left a deep impression on me because it showed how business success can be a powerful platform for positive change.' A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up To the CEO, the initiative was 'more about doing whatever we can to ease the burden on families and support children's education as… the cost of getting to school can be a real barrier'. Hence, Kindness Warrior partnered North East Community Development Council to support its School Transport Assistance and Relief Scheme (Stars) project. 'I grew up in Johor Bahru. During my years in school, I had the opportunity to see the work that Robert Kuok (also known as the Sugar King of Asia) was doing through initiatives in my school,' says Victor Tan, CEO of TOP International. PHOTO: TOP INTERNATIONAL 'It's a simple but powerful way to remove one hurdle and ensure that no child misses out on education and all the opportunities it brings,' he added. The Kindness Warrior initiative, into its third year, has raised $368,168 in total so far. Last year, the Stars programme disbursed more than S$500,000 to help 1,181 students from lower income families. Of this amount, S$100,000 came from TOP's Kindness Warrior campaign. Faradillah, a stay-home mum to five children, said that the initiative has helped alleviate the financial burden on her family. Another beneficiary, Ahyarudin, concurred and added that he can now use the money that he used to spend on school transport on other areas such as textbooks. When asked on the importance of the role that SMEs can play in the giving landscape, Tan said: 'When it comes to galvanising support (from them), I think it starts with understanding their realities. SMEs face their own unique challenges – sometimes it's budget constraints, and other times it's manpower or time limitations. But I've personally not found it to be an insurmountable challenge. It's really about showing them the value of what we're trying to achieve, and how their participation can make a tangible impact on children and families.' Tan added that he 'believes there's something powerful when SMEs lead such initiatives themselves'. SMEs make up about 99 per cent of all enterprises in Singapore and 72 per cent of the workforce. 'They're the lifeblood of our economy: the entrepreneurs who are shaping communities and creating jobs. When they come together, they represent the true spirit of nation-building, and they show how business can play a central role in supporting families and strengthening society. As entrepreneurs, we know what it means to build something from the ground up. That spirit of resilience and community makes them ideal catalysts for social change.'
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
‘Champions League' mindset drives more SEA founders to US
FELIX Lee still keeps his diary from the one-month solo trip he took to San Francisco in 2018. Then 19 and fresh out of pre-university, the Singaporean entrepreneur had just sold his trip-planning startup, Packdat, to an Indonesian-listed SIM card provider. Meeting at least three new people each day on that trip, Lee jotted down everything he saw, heard, and learned. His goal? To answer one question: Why do amazing ideas seem to be born only in Silicon Valley? Later, it clicked: 'What we lack, in South-east Asia, is not resources, but the guts,' said Lee. Many founders in Silicon Valley do not rely on earning credentials or establishing networks before starting a company, he observed. Instead, they head straight to San Francisco in hopes of building the next billion-dollar startup. Lee did not see the same spirit in Singapore. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up Fast forward to today, he has spent over half a year in San Francisco building ADPList, a platform connecting individuals with mentors, mostly within tech. Lee is not the only South-east Asian founder who's making the US their home base, though. With funding in South-east Asia declining for three straight years, it's no surprise that more founders in the region are chasing other markets. Regional investors have also tended to stick to tried-and-tested sectors such as e-commerce and fintech, compared to their US counterparts who have large risk appetites. This makes the latter more attractive to emerging and deep tech companies. Tech in Asia has compiled a list of 78 South-east Asian founders of 66 companies that are now based in the US. Among these founders, 19 relocated after building firms in the region, while the rest have been based in the country from the start. While not exhaustive, the list paints a picture of an increase in founders choosing to grow their businesses in a market that they think gives them the best shot at becoming a global company. If you are a founder considering moving to the US, our list can be a starting point for you. Go big, go stateside Nearly two-thirds or 52 of the founders on our list are based in California, which tops our list of US states. Most are AI startups, and of these, a majority, or 14 of 15, are located there. It's no surprise, AI founders want to be where Big Tech lives. New York ranks second with 14 South-east Asian founders. Half of them are building firms in the healthtech and fintech sectors in the state, the world's top financial centre and a rising healthtech hub. That said, not every founder heads to the hubs of the West or East Coast. Cuong Pham, co-founder and CEO of Eureka Robotics, recently relocated his family from Singapore to Atlanta, Georgia. In June, his company, a supplier of robotics solutions to manufacturers, opened its fourth office in the US state, following Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan. Atlanta is a major transportation hub that helps the company reach customers across the US, according to Pham. Eureka Robotics co-founders Hung Pham (left) and Cuong Pham. PHOTO: EUREKA ROBOTICS 'From day one, I knew I'd have to come to America,' he recalls. That moment came after Eureka Robotics raised US$10.5 million in a series A round in December 2024. The US offers a massive opportunity in manufacturing. The market is 5x to 6x larger than Japan's and hundreds of times bigger than Singapore's, Pham shares. But it's not just about market size. In the US, it takes six months to go from initial conversation to a confirmed order. That's 2x to 3x faster than in Singapore or Japan. US buyers are also more willing to sign larger contracts with new vendors. 'Generating revenue quickly is paramount for a startup,' Pham explained. 'That's why, as CEO, I have to be in the US to drive sales myself.' He expects revenue from the US to surpass the total from all other markets starting in 2026. Like Pham, ADPList's Lee has observed that US users make up a sizable share of his customer base. Currently, 38 per cent of the platform's users and 80 per cent of its revenue come from the country. To test if the product truly resonated in the US, Lee spent three months in the country in mid-2022 and organised ADPList's first meetup. The turnout exceeded his expectations. Since then, he has been spending increasing amounts of time in San Francisco. He's also preparing to move there full-time later this year. This planned move signals his commitment to the market, especially to investors, because it shows he's serious, said Lee. Big league, bigger costs Every rose has its thorn, and the US market is no exception. For Kenneth Lou, co-founder and CEO of healthtech firm Mito Health, moving to New York in 2024 meant entering an intensely competitive arena. His team, spread across the US and Singapore, is 'up against some huge monsters', he said. These include US-based Superpower and a16z-backed Function, which has raised US$53 million to date. In contrast, Mito Health has raised only US$3.5 million so far. Still, the country offers a much larger market than South-east Asia, considering its huge population and deeper pockets. From left: Mito Health founders Dr Ryan Ware, Kenneth Lou, Joel Kek, and Tee-Ming Chew. PHOTO: MITO HEALTH Another key hurdle for South-east Asian founders in the US is labour cost. There are also the challenges that come with managing a team across 12- to 14-hour time differences. For the same role, each headcount in the US can cost twice as much as in Singapore, as per Eureka Robotics' Pham. As such, less than 10 per cent of the company's 60 employees are based in the US. They handle crucial on-site roles such as sales and engineering support. Meanwhile, the core R&D engineers remain in Singapore and Vietnam. For small startups such as ADPList and Mito Health, US-based hires are focused on functions that require deep local insight, like growth or marketing. Its engineering or design teams, meanwhile, are still in South-east Asia. Relocating staff to the US remains a tall order, even for well-funded companies. Not every employee volunteers for the move, and those who do face unpredictable visa hurdles under Donald Trump's administration. Ambition's price tag Not everyone is cut out for a big move across the world, however. Melvin Yuan, who first moved to the US in 2013 in search of a larger market for his real-time location analytics startup, YFind Technologies, knows this first-hand. Today, he lives in San Francisco, running Stellar – a company that handles back-office operations for firms in both Singapore and the US. Stellar founder and CEO Melvin Yuan. PHOTO: STELLAR Relocating to the country, for him, meant restarting life in a pricier, unfamiliar place. For those with families, uprooting and helping kids adjust to a new school system is doubly challenging. 'You have to work extra hard to set up life all over again, build a whole new network to get into the market,' Yuan shares. 'If you are not ambitious, you probably don't want to be here.' Mito Health's Lou echoes this sentiment. He said that it was 'not easy' for him and his wife to leave their families, especially his mother, who lives alone in Singapore. But Lou thinks the sacrifice is worth it.
Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
Indonesia police detain former eFishery CEO who faked data
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The company claimed revenues of US$752 million in the first nine months of 2024, while the true number was just US$157 million. JAKARTA – Indonesian police have detained the co-founder and former chief executive officer of eFishery, who has previously admitted faking financial information at the once high-flying aquaculture startup. Gibran Huzaifah was detained along with two other former executives, Angga Hadrian Raditya and Andri Yadi, according to a text message from the director of special economic crimes at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency, Helfi Assegaf. DealStreetAsia earlier reported the detentions. There was no immediate indication the three former executives have been charged with any wrongdoing or named as suspects. All three have been held since July 31, according to the police. Gibran has told Bloomberg News he faked accounts at eFishery , which since the scandal has been administered by FTI Consulting. By the time it collapsed, the scheme had blown up into a multinational web of fake shell companies and padded accounts. The company claimed revenues of US$752 million (S$970 million) in the first nine months of 2024, while the true number was just US$157 million, according to an internal investigation. 'You see yourself in the mirror and when you do something wrong, you know that you're not proud of yourself,' Gibran said during a five-hour conversation on the scheme. 'I thought I would just do it to survive.' Several high-profile firms had invested in eFishery, including Japan's SoftBank Group and Singapore's Temasek Holdings. Bloomberg
