The real estate investment trust (REIT) market is set to expand further with another property giant joining the industry. Filinvest Land Inc. said that its REIT company, Cyberzone Properties Inc., will offer up to 1.67 billion shares at a price of P8.30 per piece, according to Philstar.
With an over-allotment option of up to 163 million shares, the offering will go up to 1.79 billion shares worth P14.9 billion. In earlier reports, the REIT portfolio includes office buildings in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang and Filinvest Cyberzone in Cebu City. These properties accommodate business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.
Despite the pandemic, the rental revenues of Cyberzone Properties increased by 16 percent to P2.46 billion in the first nine months of 2020. About 90 percent of that would have been dividends shared by investors if the company was already a REIT at the time. The stable rental yield forms an optimistic outlook for future investors.
Growing REIT Market
Once the company registers with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cyberzone Properties will be the third REIT in the country, following Ayala Land’s AREIT and DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s DDMP REIT. The latter will debut on March 23.
Other real estate companies are expressing interest in joining the growing REIT market. Vista Land, according to Business World, will be listing its own soon, involving its 1.5 million square meters of gross floor area leasing portfolio. BPO locators cover 15 percent of these assets, which sustained operations even at the height of the health crisis.
Meanwhile, Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) will be introducing its REIT this year, Sunstar reported. The report claimed that the company has 25 office buildings with a total net leasable area of over 600,000 square meters.
Migrant Workers on REITs
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may represent a significant portion of REIT investors, given the benefits offered to them. Under Section 14 of the REIT law or Republic Act No. 9856, those working abroad are exempted from paying the 10 percent dividend tax for seven years, starting January of last year.
Although overseas remittances declined by 1.7 percent in January, as reported by Manila Times, financial analysts say that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will help ease the health crisis and therefore facilitate economic recovery. As host countries bounce back from the pandemic, OFWs who lost their jobs will be able to work again. This will positively affect financial capacity.
In 2020, money sent home by migrant workers contracted by only 0.8 percent, much less than what economists projected, Rappler reported. Personal remittances hit $33.2 billion last year, representing 9.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Backed by Infrastructure Projects
In a separate Philstar report, Colliers International Philippines forecasts that big-ticket projects that will be completed before the current administration steps down will likely improve the REIT market.
In terms of railway projects, LRT-2 East Extension will begin operations in the last week of April, as it already nears completion of construction, according to CNN Philippines. The project added two new stations, Marikina and Antipolo, to the existing railway line. The improved transportation system will cut travel time from Recto in Manila to Masinag in Antipolo to 40 minutes.
MRT-7, on the other hand, which connects Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, will welcome passengers by the end of 2022, as reported by Business World. As of the last update in February, the railway line was 54 percent complete. Once finished, the travel time between Metro Manila and Bulacan will be 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, in road projects, the BGC-Ortigas Link Bridge is slated for completion before the first quarter ends. The last update made in September last year showed that the project is almost complete, as cited in a Manila Standard article. The connector bridge will cut travel time between the two business districts to merely 12 minutes.
Civil works on the Skyway Extension project are being fast-tracked, as the construction on the southbound section entered the advanced phase last February, GMA News Online reported. While it will cause traffic jams for the time being, it will provide motorists a direct connection to Skyway 1 and 2, as well as the newly opened Skyway Stage 3 when finished.
Article and Photo originally posted by Lamudi last March 17, 2021.
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