Ally Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) expects revenue growth of 30-35% in 2022 as tenants affected by Covid-19 have resumed their business, following a robust reopening last November.
Kavin Eiamsakulrat of KE REIT Management, which manages the Ally REIT, said two categories of tenants -- entertainment and restaurants -- experienced a strong rebound in the first quarter this year.
"Cinemas doubled their sales growth and restaurants had a 30% increase compared with the same period last year," he said. "This momentum, driven by post-pandemic consumer behaviour returning to normal, will continue for the remainder of the year."
Mr Kavin said mall traffic at its 13 projects rose 13% from the fourth quarter last year, helping with tenant retention and the reversion rate.
Traffic in the first quarter reached 116% of the level recorded in the first quarter of 2020, prior to the pandemic.
"Demand from tenants, particularly branded tenants, was on the rise as they restarted expansion plans. Customer lifestyles after the pandemic have changed, as they prefer open air and malls nearby while working from home," he said.
In addition to a positive impact from the country's reopening, the economic recovery and a tourism rebound, the low future supply of lifestyle or community malls in non-central business districts should benefit Ally, said Mr Kavin.
In the first quarter of 2022, Ally posted 371 million baht in revenue, up 13% and 12% from the fourth and first quarters last year, respectively, while net investment income stood at 153 million baht, increases of 37% and 8%.
"The revenue and profit in the first quarter were the highest since we were founded in 2019," he said. "Key drivers were improving rental operations and income from three new properties we acquired last year."
The company aims to generate 1.45-1.5 billion baht in revenue by the end of 2022, up 30-35% from 1.12 billion in 2021.
Ally REIT aims to achieve a 94% occupancy rate in 2022, up from 92.7% in the first quarter, while the average discount would be cut to 5-10% from 11%.
Ally plans to spend 1.2 billion baht from June to December this year to acquire 3-5 projects, focusing on small to medium-scale lifestyle malls. The source of funding would be bond issuance and 420 million baht from an undrawn credit facility, said Mr Kavin.
Ally has 13 properties with a total lettable area of 160,256 square metres, of which 97% is retail space and 2% office space.
Total asset value was recorded at 13.4 billion baht, with net asset value of 8.74 billion baht.