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EC World REIT’s Distribution Per Unit Declines 22.9%

EC World REIT’s Distribution Per Unit Declines 22.9%

May 14, 2020 — EC World Asset Management Pte. Ltd., as manager of EC World Real Estate Investment Trust, reported a DPU of 1.158 cents for the quarter ended 31 March 2020, a 22.9% decline year-on-year largely due to rental rebates provided to tenants in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 situation.

DPU would have been 1.529 cents without the rental rebates.

Mr. Goh Toh Sim, Executive Director and CEO of the Manager, said, “In the first quarter of 2020, the Chinese Government took decisive actions to contain the spread of the COVID- 19. Cities in China were locked down and the Spring Holidays were extended. These actions, while necessary, put a strain on businesses country-wide. In an unprecedented and undoubtedly challenging operating environment, the Manager continues to work closely and diligently with our stakeholders to ensure the safety of our employees, tenants and partners so as to optimize the performance of ECW’s asset portfolio.

While the COVID-19 situation has stabilized and improved in China with economic activities and production resuming gradually, significant macroeconomic uncertainties are likely to persist in the near term. As such, for the sake of prudence and maintain financial fluidity, the Manager decided to retain 5% of ECW’s amount available for distribution in 1QFY2020.”

On 3 April 2020, the Manager announced rental rebates amounting to approximately RMB 23.7 million provided to tenants within ECW’s portfolio in efforts to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on tenants’ operations. Furthermore, as a show of togetherness and solidarity with its stakeholders, key management personnel and the Directors of the Manager will be taking a 10% reduction in remuneration and fees for the 3-month period from April 2020 to June 2020.

In addition, Mr Zhang Guobiao, Chairman of the Manager, donated essential medical supplies to Singapore through the Sponsor and the Manager to support Singapore in the fight against COVID-19.

Read more here..

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