Mapletree Industrial Trust prioritises asset sales as quarterly income falls

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) is putting North American asset disposals first as it pursues a more diversified portfolio. Its net property income dropped 3.5 per cent to S$119.8 million for the quarter ended Sept 30, while distribution per unit decreased 6.6 per cent from a year earlier to S$0.0297.

At the Oct 28 results briefing, Anand Tze Ming Chandran, chief executive of the trust’s manager, said MIT was negotiating with several parties over different parts of its portfolio. It aims to complete a substantial portion of the disposals before its financial year ends on March 31, 2027.

MIT outlined plans in April to sell US$500 million to US$600 million of North American assets over one to two years. In August, it offered 22 older US data centres for sale. Their combined valuation was about US$1.24 billion, of which US$1.07 billion was attributable to MIT.

Chandran said executing the sales would support income replacement, acquisitions and the management of financing costs and hedging. The trust intends to explore advanced manufacturing, high-tech and digital infrastructure opportunities in Singapore, the US and Japan, while retaining data centres as part of its business.

Data centres represent 57.1 per cent, or S$4.7 billion, of MIT’s S$8.3 billion in assets under management. Overall occupancy eased from 90.7 per cent in the previous quarter to 89.7 per cent, with data centre occupancy dropping from 85 per cent to 82.1 per cent.

The quarterly income decline reflected weaker North American contributions, lost income following the sale of three Singapore industrial properties in August 2025, and a weaker yen against the Singapore dollar. Singapore’s weighted average rental reversion improved to 6.9 per cent from 5.3 per cent; management expects mid-single-digit reversions during the financial year’s second half.