M-REITs hold their ground

AS we are just entering the peak second-quarter 2026 (2Q26) results season, the early set of results among listed Malaysian real estate investment trusts (M-REITs) shows that the sector has been one of the most resilient, delivering not just growth in revenue but also growth in distributable income and, hence, dividends to shareholders.

Early this year, the sector was abruptly impacted by a change in the tax treatment for income earned by M-REITs, whereby investors are now required to include M-REIT distributions as income in their Malaysian income tax returns and are subject to their respective progressive tax rates.