By TMR

Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis-REIT) posted a net profit of RM26.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (2Q18), compared to RM23.2 million in the preceding year, on the back of higher revenue from its property investments.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group noted its revenue had increased to RM47.4 million, in tandem with its net property and investment income rising 21% year-on-year (YoY) to RM42.5 million.

The group’s net income from operations was RM24.4 million, after deducting total expenditure of RM23 million — of which RM7.3 million was attributable to property expenses, RM15.6 million to non-property expenses and RM67,000 to income tax expenses.

The REIT also announced a two sen income distribution, or 99.7% from its realised income available in 2Q18, bringing total distribution to 3.94 sen for the first half of the year (1H18).

For 1H18, its net profit grew to RM58.2 million from RM45.9 million in 1H17, while revenue jumped to RM92.5 million from RM84.3 million over the same period.

The group’s assets base grew from RM2.55 billion in 2Q17 to RM2.71 billion in 2Q18.

The group added that its current satisfactory performance and its growth strategy in pursuing quality acquisitions will maintain its performance for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018.

Axis-REIT was formed to own and invest primarily in office and industrial real estate.