PETALING JAYA: Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust
(Sunway-REIT) will continue to diversify, enhance and modernise its product offerings to keep its properties competitive.
Sunway-REIT Management Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Clement Chen Kok Peng noted that the company made several “accretive acquisitions” last year, which would bode well for the REIT.
“From a portfolio management perspective, we will continue with efforts to review our portfolio for asset recycling opportunities and enhance portfolio yield.
“We are still actively monitoring the market for new acquisition opportunities especially in the retail, logistics and services sectors,” he said in Sunway-REIT’s annual report.
Chen noted that financial year 2024 was the busiest for Sunway-REIT in terms of acquisitions.
It completed over RM959.8mil of property purchases.
“Although the new acquisitions are predominantly in the retail segment, they have unique attributes which will likely add to the income diversity and earnings resilience of Sunway-REIT.”
With a greater network of malls, Chen said Sunway-REIT has greater leverage with tenants to bring in the best and latest brands to its properties, which will further increase footfall.
“Hence, the prospects for our retail segment look bright aided by full-year contributions from these new initiatives.”
Chen said the hotel segment is poised to benefit from a continued recovery in tourist arrivals and increase in connecting flights to international airports.
“In terms of contribution to net property income, the hotel segment has already exceeded pre-pandemic levels and we believe ongoing efforts to increase occupancy and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions activities will further enhance the profitability of this segment.
“This is especially at our flagship Sunway Resort Hotel,” he said.
Additionally, he said the group’s office segment was generally able to sustain its performance in 2024, amidst a challenging macro environment and is expected to remain resilient in 2025.
“Efforts are ongoing to improve the competitiveness of our office properties via asset enhancement initiatives like upgrading air conditioning systems, lifts and transformers.
“Besides providing the occupants with a better experience, these upgrades will generate energy savings and facilitate green building certifications.
“This would enable us to better meet new tenant requirements and increase occupancy.”
Separately, chairman Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz said Malaysian REITs demonstrated healthy growth in 2024, with the Bursa Malaysia REIT Index recording an annual increase of 11.4%.
“This positive trend is primarily attributed to the easing of global interest rates, which has bolstered investor sentiment within the REIT sector.”
Amirsham said 2024 began modestly but gained momentum in the second half of 2024 as the United States Federal Reserve moved to ease interest rates.
“Of significance, the heightened optimism surrounding local REITs has led to an expansion in market capitalisation, which surged by 17% to RM48.9bil in 2024 from RM41.8bil in 2023.
“This growth in market capitalisation was further driven by active expansion and acquisitions across most REIT sectors, including industrial, hospitality and retail REITs.”
Additionally, he said the solid performance of local REITs is fuelled by a recovery in earnings, particularly within the retail and hotel segments.
“This recovery has been supported by an increase in tourist arrivals and the broader strengthening of the economy,” he added.
