SPH said it is looking into establishing a REIT

SPH said it is looking into establishing a real estate investment trust to be listed on the mainboard of Singapore Exchange.

Mr. Market likes this. Shares of SPH hit a high of $4.33 this morning.

SPH: Group is looking into setting up a REIT to list its property assets on the SGX. The group has 3 property assets: Paragon on Orchard Road, The Clementi Mall in the heartland of Clementi and The Seletar Mall in Sengkang slated to be completed 2014. As at Aug 2012, Paragon was valued at $2.43b and The Clementi Mall at $598m. The gross development value of The Seletar Mall, located at the junction of Sengkang West Avenue and Fernvale Road, was $505m inclusive of $328m land value. Rental income from Paragon and Clementi Mall grew 14% to $191.4m in FY12 from $167.9m in FY11. SPH's property business contributed 15% of group operating revenue of $1.272b in FY2012. Profit before tax was $100m in FY12, 22% of group pre-tax profit of $441.7m. Based on DMG's most recent rpt on 15 Jan 2013, the $3.533b property assets are trading at a 3.7% discount currently.