31-07-2025
YTL-REIT sees resilient hospitality outlook across key markets
PETALING JAYA: YTL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (YTL-REIT) expects the hospitality sector to remain resilient in Malaysia, Australia and Japan — the markets where it operates — supported by sustained demand and active portfolio management.
'The group is actively managing its business portfolio and making strategic decisions to protect long-term growth, while ensuring sustainable value creation for its unitholders,' it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
This comes as the YTL-REIT posted a 0.9% rise in net property income (NPI) to RM292.07mil for the financial year ended June 30, 2025 (FY25), despite a 1.2% dip in revenue to RM548.3mil.
The REIT attributed the performance to additional rental contributions from refurbished AC Hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kuantan, as well as a new rental agreement for AC Hotel Ipoh, which commenced in April.
Hotel Stripes and the step-up rental from the renewed lease of JW Marriott Hotel – both in Kuala Lumpur – also supported earnings, it said.
Overall, its Malaysian portfolio saw steady growth, with revenue up 5.9% to RM163.1mil in FY25 from RM154mil in FY24 and NPI rising 6% to RM154.9mil from RM146.1mil.
In contrast, revenue from Australia and Japan fell 4.1% and 2.1% year-on-year to RM358.6mil and RM26.6mil respectively, with NPI dropping 3% to RM116.1mil in Australia and 11.4% to RM21.1mil in Japan.
The lower NPI from its Japanese assets was due to repair and maintenance works, YTL-REIT explained.
For the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2025 (4Q25), YTL-REIT's topline dipped about 2.4% to RM127.03mil from the RM130.19mil in the previous corresponding quarter.
NPI for the quarter under review fell 2.8% to RM63.97mil from RM65.78mil in 4Q24.
YTL-REIT declared a final income distribution of 4.8372 sen per unit for the second half of FY25, bringing the total to 7.75 sen — representing a 100.4% payout ratio.
This was slightly lower than the 8.27 sen distributed in FY24, which had a 95% payout ratio.
Earnings per unit fell to 8.72 sen in FY25 from 10.44 sen in the previous financial year.
On a brighter note, the REIT said it recorded a RM124mil revaluation surplus in May 2025, lifting the value of its investment properties to RM5.06bil from RM4.94bil.
Net asset value per unit, however, declined 1.3% to RM1.725 as at end-June, from RM1.746 a year earlier.
As at June 30, YTL-REIT managed a portfolio of 4,915 rooms across Malaysia, Australia and Japan.
Properties in Malaysia and Japan remain under master lease agreements, while its three Marriott-branded hotels in Australia recorded a stable average occupancy rate of 82.9% in FY25, compared with 82.5% in FY24.
Its total borrowings stood at RM2.33bil, with a gearing ratio of 42.8% and an interest cover of 2.1 times.
The group has a total asset value of RM5.44bil and the group said it has an estimated debt headroom of RM621mil for potential acquisitions.
