Citicore Energy REIT Corporation (“CREIT” or the “Company”), the country’s first energy REIT, posted a net income of P300 million in the first quarter of 2022, more than ten times the P24 million posted in the same period last year, as the Company began to realize rental income from its renewable assets leased out to solar plant operators.
The Company’s gross revenues for the first three months of 2022 soared to P332 million, 470% higher versus 1Q2021, which largely consisted of lease income from various solar plant companies. EBITDA likewise rose 49% to P322 million, translating to an EBITDA margin of 97%.
“With an established list of tenants operating in a cycle-resilient industry, CREIT is optimistic in generating recurring green sources of lease revenues, translating to increasing distributable income and attractive dividend yields to our shareholders. Moving forward, our Sponsor’s aggressive growth pipeline and commitment to support CREIT over the long-term is expected to sustain and even surpass our first quarter performance,” said Oliver Y. Tan, CREIT
President and CEO.
As contemplated in the Company’s dividend policy, CREIT Board of Directors (BOD) approved the declaration of cash dividends for 1Q2022 of P0.044 per share last May 11, 2022 to its shareholders on record as of June 8, 2022 and payable on June 24, 2022. Starting this year 2022, this becomes a quarterly distribution moving forward. The amount represents 107% of the distributable income for the first quarter of 2022, up by 20% versus FY2021 dividend declaration and indicates an annualized yield of 7.08% based on the May 11, 2022 closing price of P2.46 per share. The company previously paid a cash dividend of P0.035/share for FY2021 earnings. With the above dividend payout, CREIT is well-positioned to achieve the 7% annualized yield as per REIT Plan.
“We are very pleased to announce the first tranche of regular quarterly dividends approved by the Board for the full year 2022. these came solely from the guaranteed base lease, as any incremental dividend income from the variable lease will be distributed at end of the year,” said CREIT President and CEO Oliver Tan.
CREIT will continue beefing up its current asset portfolio through the continued support of its Sponsor – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC) – under its five-year roadmap of 1.5GW installed capacity by 2025. Solar farm assets that meet the Company’s investment criteria are scheduled to be acquired and infused into CREIT once completed
