Singapore, April 13, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Baa3 issuer rating to Ascott
Residence Trust (Ascott REIT).
The rating outlook is stable.
At the same time, Moody's has withdrawn Ascott REIT's
Baa3 corporate family rating.
RATINGS RATIONALE
While Moody's has not assigned Ascott REIT a senior unsecured rating,
the rating actions imply an improvement of the trust's senior unsecured
credit quality, which is now equivalent to its issuer rating.
At Baa3, this incorporates a notch for legal subordination,
due to the trust's high levels of secured debt.
The rating action reflects Ascott REIT's established market position,
reinforced by the trust's enlarged portfolio of assets. The
rating action also reflects the trust's stable and healthy financial
profile, supported by a track record of prudent financial management.
"The value of Ascott REIT's asset portfolio has more than
quadrupled since its inception, yet the trust has maintained geographic
diversity; thereby reducing its reliance on any single economy,
and partially mitigating the operational volatility inherent in the trust's
short leases, given its hospitality assets," says Jacintha
Poh, a Moody's Assistant Vice President and Analyst.
Since Ascott REIT's inception in March 2006, no single country
has contributed more than 30% of the trust's total gross
profit in any financial year.
Ascott REIT also enjoys some income stability and visibility from its
properties that are either under master leases or management contracts
with minimum guaranteed income. Moody's expects the trust
to achieve EBITDA interest coverage of 1.5x-2.0x,
based on the minimum income derived from properties under both arrangements.
"Despite Ascott REIT's acquisitive growth strategy,
the trust has funded its acquisitions with a mix of debt and equity,
allowing it to maintain healthy financial metrics that are well within
its rating parameters," adds Poh, who is also the Lead
Analyst for Ascott REIT.
As of 31 December 2014, Ascott REIT's adjusted debt/total
deposited assets stood at 40.2%, its adjusted EBITDA
interest coverage was at 4.4x, and adjusted secured debt/total
deposited assets was at 23.1%.
In the financial year ending 31 December 2015 (FY2015), Moody's
expects Ascott REIT's adjusted EBITDA to grow approximately 2%,
driven by contributions from properties acquired in FY2014, and
higher contributions from newly refurbished properties.
Moody's also expects that the trust will maintain a well staggered
debt maturity profile, such that no more than 30% of its
total debt will mature in any single year. In addition, Moody's
believes Ascott REIT will refinance its debt ahead of maturity.
While Moody's expects that Ascott REIT will lower its adjusted secured
debt/total deposited assets gradually, the ratio should exceed 15%
in FY2015. Such a situation is reflected in the legal subordination
of its rating.
The rating outlook is stable, reflecting Moody's expectation
that Ascott REIT will continue to generate stable cash flows from its
portfolio, maintain financial discipline in its pursuit of growth,
and keep its credit profile within targeted parameters.
The rating could be upgraded if Ascott REIT: (1) improves its liquidity
and financial flexibility by lowering its encumbered assets ratio and
reliance on secured borrowings, such that adjusted secured debt/total
deposited assets is less than 15%; and/or (2) improves its
credit metrics, such that adjusted debt/total deposited assets stays
below 35%, and EBITDA interest coverage exceeds 4x on a consistent
basis.
On the other hand, the rating could be pressured downwards if:
(1) the operating environment deteriorates, leading to higher vacancy
levels and declines in operating cash flows; and/or (2) the trust's
financial metrics weaken, with adjusted debt/total deposited assets
exceeding 45% and EBITDA interest coverage falling below 3x on
a consistent basis.
In addition, further acquisitions made without long-term
committed funding in place, and a disruption in its access to funding
could place the trust's rating under pressure.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Rating Methodology
for REITs and Other Commercial Property Firms published in July 2010.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of this methodology.
Ascott Residence Trust is a hospitality real estate investment trust focusing
on serviced residences, listed in the Singapore Exchange since March
2006. It has an asset portfolio of 90 serviced residences across
37 cities in 13 countries, with an appraised value of SGD3.9
billion as of 31 December 2014. The trust is sponsored by The Ascott
Limited (unrated), an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand
Limited (unrated), which in turn owns 46% of Ascott REIT.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the
associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Jacintha Poh
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Philipp L. Lotter
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's assigns Baa3 issuer rating to Ascott REIT, withdraws corporate family rating