Sabana REIT: Convertible Sukuk.

Some time back, I wrote about how perpetual bonds could be a good thing for REITs if they could use the funds raised to acquire yield accretive properties. Imagine borrowing at a lower interest rate to invest in a property with a NPI yield higher than the cost of debt. This is good news for existing unitholders.

Sabana REIT has announced a Convertible Sukuk which will raise S$80m. What is Sukuk? The easiest way to understand it is to think of it as an Islamic Bond. So, a Convertible Sukuk is a Convertible Bond.

The Sukuk will carry a profit rate of 4.5% and are due in September 2012. If the conversion to new units takes place, there will be 67,040,979 new units issued (about 10.5% of all units currently in issue).

Read announcement: here.

Sukuk holders could exercise the option to convert to new units after 9 November 2012. The initial conversion price is $1.1933 per unit. This is some 5.6% higher than the closing price of $1.13 in the last session.

If my understanding is correct, Sukuk differ from conventional bonds in that they do not take interest payment but, instead, they will take partial ownership of the business or assets. This is why the coupon of 4.5% is referred to as profit rate. Interesting.

Read announcement: here.

Property to be purchased:
23 Serangoon North Avenue 5.

Remaining land lease: 44.2 years

Purchase price: S$61.0m

Read about the property to be acquired: here.

I feel that the cost of debt at 4.5% per annum is somewhat pricey but Sabana REIT is a smallish outfit and the higher profit rate is to compensate for perceived higher risk, I suppose. It is similar to what Saizen REIT pays for some of its bank loans, for example. So, no big issue here.

I am not able to find information on the NPI which 23 Serangoon North Avenue 5 will generate for the REIT but I am assuming that it is yield accretive as announced by the manager. So, the NPI yield should be much higher than the cost of debt of 4.5% as the REIT's current portfolio has an average NPI yield of 7.3%. The purchase should be DPU accretive as well.

If the Convertible Sukuk are all converted to new units in the REIT, there will be a dilutive effect as they represent some 10.5% of the total units in issue now. However, the benefit is that they become equity in the REIT and not debt. This will, then, have a benign effect on gearing.

Do we stay invested and take the good with the bad or do we take our money elsewhere?

Related post:
Sabana REIT: 2Q 2012 DPU 2.27c.

First REIT: Acquisitions in Manado and Makasar. (Amended)

First REIT is acquiring two properties from its sponsor, PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk.

The two are Siloam Hospitals Manado & Hotel Aryaduta Manado at S$83.6 million, and Siloam Hospitals Makassar at S$59.3 million. The prices are at a discount of 10.78% and 9.81% to valuations, respectively.

The purchases will be funded through debt and a private placement.

Some pro forma numbers:

Total asset size:
S$782.2m or an increase of 26.4%.

NAV/unit: 84c.

Annual DPU: 7.45c. 6.77c.

Read press release: here.

What really interests me is the DPU here. An annual value of 7.45c 6.77c will approximate 1.86c 1.692c per quarter.

Regular readers will remember that I said a safer way to value First REIT was to use a quarterly DPU of 1.6c as it would remove the special distributions resulting from the sale of the REIT's Adam Road property. This is especially so if the management should be tardy in moving to improve the REIT's income.

Well, the special distributions have run out but the proposed acquisitions will take in S$14.1m in annual net rental income which is equivalent to a quarter of the REIT's annual revenue from its current portfolio. Therefore, the proposed acquisitions will keep the REIT's DPU more or less unchanged which would, in turn, lend support to its much higher unit price today. Now, I wonder if this is enough to lend support to its much higher unit price today.

At last session's closing price of $1.03 a unit, we will be looking at a pro forma distribution yield of 7.233% 6.573%. This is probably still attractive enough for many in the current low interest rate environment.

Related post:
First REIT: 2Q 2012 DPU unchanged.

Tea with AK71: Breakfast and lunch for 96c.

What did I have for breakfast and lunch today?

Breafast: Oatmeal! My favourite!

A 1 kg pack of rolled oats costs less than S$5.00 and is enough for 20 servings or more. So, each serving costs 30c to prepare, perhaps. I would cook enough for 3 servings each time. Keep them in the fridge and bring 1 serving to work daily for the next 3 days.

Lunch: Cup noodles!

I used to eat instant noodles frequently but I have cut down on these a lot in the last few years. I bought some two nights ago when I went grocery shopping at NTUC Fairprice with my mother after taking a walk to the neighbourhood park together. Only $5.95 for 9 cups! That is 66c a cup! Cheap!

*Hot water courtesy of the office pantry.

Total cost of breakfast and lunch today: 96c.

Related post:
Inflation hits fried bee hoon.

Young working Singaporeans, you are OK. Really?

This was just in the news:

Young Singaporeans in the workforce today will have adequate savings in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts by the time they retire, according to an independent study by the Ministry of Manpower.

A recent study using the Income Replacement Rate or IRR indicates that Singaporeans are adequately covered.

Pension economists measure retirement adequacy by using an IRR, which is the ratio of retirement monthly income to pre-retirement monthly earnings.

The study found that a median male earner who enters the workforce today will be able to achieve an IRR of over 70 per cent through his CPF savings.

For the female median earner, the equivalent IRR is 63 per cent.

These figures are similar to those of countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The IRR for the median OECD economies is 66 per cent. The World Bank recommends a range of between 53 and 78 per cent.

The rate is significantly higher in Singapore when it takes into account the fact that Singaporeans have their own homes when they retire.

Cash is freed for other living expenses as they do not have to pay rental fees.

With Workfare, which supplements the wages of low-income workers, the IRR is even higher -- at 93 per cent.

Read the full article: here

I find it impressive that a young Singaporean male who joins the workforce today would be able to have a retirement income equivalent to 70% of his pre-retirement earnings just by drawing on his CPF savings. I suppose this is assuming that he is gainfully employed without significant periods of unemployment till age 65.

I have always thought that it is impossible for us to retire and have a standard of living comparable to pre-retirement if we were to rely on our CPF money alone. Now, if someone is able to have an IRR of 70 to 93% at the official retirement age of 65, it comes rather close.

So, does this mean that people no longer have to make their savings work harder and learn how to invest their money to beat inflation? Ah, inflation!

I assume that upon retirement, our monthly withdrawal of our CPF money is a constant number. This is what CPF Life will do for us, if I understand it correctly. This means that our monthly "allowance" from our CPF would stay the same nominally till the day we bid farewell to this world or am I wrong? So, even though someone could have an IRR of 70%, that someone's standard of living could worsen with time due to inflation, could it not?

I would still encourage all Singaporeans to be more pro-active in managing their money and growing their wealth. It is risky to think that our CPF money will be enough, financially, to provide for our old age.

Of course, there are those who would like to retire before hitting 65 but that is another story.

Related posts:
1. SRS, CPF-OA, CPF-SA.
2. Do you want to be richer?
3. Wage slaves should be fearful.

Tea with AK71: Inflation hits fried bee hoon.

Today, I went to the "economic fried bee hoon" store near my office to buy breakfast. I like fried bee hoon a lot. It is inexpensive and tasty. However, I would try to restrict it to once a week or fortnight. It is still less expensive to bring my own food to work (e.g. oatmeal).

I would usually order fried bee hoon with a piece of tofu to make it a more nutritious meal. Price? $1.50. If I am not feeling very hungry, I would have half of it for breakfast and keep the rest for lunch. Two meals for $1.50! I like this too.

We all know that inflation has come fast and furious to Singapore. For a while, I thought my favourite fried bee hoon would be spared as the price has remained the same since last year. I am mistaken. Today, I paid $1.70. So? It is only 20c more, right? It is actually an 11.76% increase in price!

Imagine how this would affect someone who does not have the habit of bringing food from home to work. If his eating out food bill is $300.00 a month, it would mean paying $35.37 more every month! That is enough for a nice dinner for me at Soup Restaurant and still have money left over for some grocery shopping.

With QE3 launched by the Mr. Ben Bernanke, inflation could get worse. Time to get cooking.

Related posts:
1. A simple meal.
2. Another budget meal.
3. A healthy, low cost meal.
4. Korean noodles for lunch.
5. A loaf of bread.

Fraud: Credit cards.

When I was in Los Angeles with my dad once many years ago, he tried to buy some chocolates at the airport but his card was declined. The cashier told him that a message appeared on the machine that he was to call the card centre. My dad was puzzled since he promptly paid his credit card bills each month.

Anyway, he called the card centre using his ICC at a public phone booth. In case you are wondering what on earth is an ICC, it was an International Calling Card issued by Singtel for people who were travelling overseas in the past. I don't think ICC exists now.

The card centre lady asked him where he was and told him his credit card was used in a petrol station in Johor just two hours ago! Wow! My dad must have had taken something faster than the Concord to travel from the USA to Johor and then back in two hours.

There are risky places to use credit cards and we have to be very careful:

Flea MarketsFlea market merchants are often transient and can be difficult to locate if there is a problem with charges. It's especially true for vendors who don't have online credit card terminals and instead make carbon copies of your credit card.

That doesn't mean those vendors are necessarily fraudulent, but it makes the transaction less secure. The credit card company might have trouble doing a charge back. If you're going to the flea market, take cash. It's also easier to negotiate that way.

Small Shops/Cafes in Foreign Countries
These smaller merchants have a significantly higher percentage of credit card fraud as reported by large banks and credit card companies. Many of these transactions end up being written off by the banks because the merchants simply can't be located. There's just a higher chance of fraud when you get outside of the mainstream, so when in doubt, use cash.

For the full article, read:
The Riskiest Places to Use Your Credit Card