Board proposed final dividend of $0.02/ share for six-month period

The net rental income of ENBD REIT, the Shariah-compliant real estate investment trust managed by Emirates NBD Asset Management Ltd., fell by nearly 18 percent to $9.5 million for the full year of 2021.

The company attributed the drop in net income to a 15 percent drop in gross income due mainly to the renegotiation of leases in the portfolio that were impacted by the pandemic and soft market conditions.

ENBD REIT’s property portfolio value stood at $356 million, down 1.1 percent y-o-y. Net asset value (NAV) was $167 million, or $0.67 per share at the end of the financial year, 7.4 percent lower than the year before due to capital expenditure on the buildings, and an accounting liability relating to the cross-currency profit rate swap, the trust said on Thursday in a statement on Nasdaq Dubai where it is listed.

Its board has proposed a final dividend of $0.02 per share for the six-month period ending 31st March 2022, bringing the total shareholder dividend to $9.5 million, a 2.7 percent increase from previous year.

Anthony Taylor, Head of Real Estate at Emirates NBD Asset Management, said the company would be looking at acquiring and divesting assets to secure an optimal mix in the portfolio.

The trust will also in future negotiate 'reliable and predictable revenues in order to manage any market volatility, while ensuring lease terms contain covenants of appropriate strength.'

zawya