KUALA LUMPUR: Axis Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Axis-REIT) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 (Q1 2022), rose to RM39.84 million from RM31.96 million in the same quarter last year.

       Total trust income increased to RM66.69 million from RM57.48 million previously, the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

       It said the realised net income from operations was RM39.1 million after deducting a total expenditure of RM27.59 million, of which RM8.76 million were attributable to property expenses and RM18.83 million to non-property expenses.

       "The manager has proposed to distribute 99 per cent of realised income available for distribution generated from operations for Q1 2022.

       "The total net asset value stood at RM2.53 billion and the net asset value per unit (before 2022’s first interim income distribution) was RM1.5488,” it added.

       On prospects, Axis-REIT said it remains cautious of the current Covid-19 pandemic which has caused a global economic downturn.

       The pandemic’s impact on Axis-REIT’s operations and financials has been manageable thus far but should the pandemic worsen unexpectedly, this may impact Axis-REIT’s performance for the rest of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022, it said.

       "During this challenging and uncertain time, the manager is actively managing the portfolio and exercising prudent capital management at all times in order for Axis-REIT to deliver sustainable earnings per unit and declare a final distribution per unit payout to unitholders.

       "Positively, the current gearing level of 29 per cent provides headroom for Axis-REIT to continue its yield accretive acquisition strategy should good opportunities come along,” it said. - Bernama