Embassy REIT posts Rs 232-cr Q2 profit, declares Rs 463-cr dividend payout

Embassy Office Parks, the country's first REIT, has reported a net profit of Rs 232.23 crore on a total income of Rs 538.1 crore for the second quarter of 2019-20.

Embassy Office Parks REIT, a joint venture between global investment firm Blackstone and realty firm Embassy Group, had raised Rs 4,750 crore in April this year through the launch of India's first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

The board of directors of Embassy Office Parks Management Services, which is manager to the Embassy REIT, declared a dividend of Rs 463 crore or Rs 6 per unit for the quarter ended September, a company statement said.

With this, cumulative distribution in the first half of this financial year stood at Rs 879.7 crore or Rs 11.4 per unit.

Embassy REIT's CEO Michael Holland said the company has reported another strong quarter of performance and distributions to unitholders.

"Companies all around the world continue to look for highly educated, highly skilled, technologically oriented employees at a reasonable cost and this continues to drive the consistent demand for Indian office and for our portfolio. We now turn our focus to continue this solid performance in the second half of the financial year," he added.

The portfolio occupancy increased to 94.7 per cent as on September 30, 2019, an increase of 100 basis points year-on-year.

Separately, Embassy Office Parks REIT said it has received an invitation to offer (ROFO Notice) from Embassy Property Developments, certain subsidiaries of the Embassy sponsor and other shareholders for the potential sale of 6.2 million sq ft of completed office premises and 2.5 million sq ft of under-construction area in Embassy TechVillage, which is an integrated office park in Bengaluru.

This ROFO notice has been issued under the framework of the pre-existing deed of right of first offer between Embassy REIT and the Embassy Sponsor.

Embassy REIT will evaluate this offer but said that "there can be no assurance that the Embassy REIT will enter into any definitive arrangements for the proposed acquisition.