Sabana Shariah Compliant #REIT Is #Singapore’s Worst-Performing REIT Over The Past Year: What Investors Should Know About Its Challenges

There are 38 real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Singapore’s stock market. The REIT with the worst performance over the last 12 months is Sabana Shariah Compliant REIT (SGX: M1GU), whose units have fallen by 49% in price to S$0.36 currently. Sabana REIT is unique for being the world’s first Shariah-compliant REIT. In the third quarter of 2016 Sabana saw its gross revenue decline by 9.7% to S$23.0 million while its net property income shrank by 24% to S$13.9 million. Although the REIT’s portfolio occupancy rate managed to step up from 88.8% in the second quarter of 2016 to 89.2%, the number is still lower than the 91.7% seen a year ago. Market researcher Knight Frank projected a decline in industrial rents in Singapore of 6% to 8% in the fourth quarter of 2016. Put another way, Sabana REIT’s business environment is in a condition of low demand and oversupply.