OREANDA-NEWS. As maintained by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), a Business Trust is a trust that runs and operates a business enterprise. Registered business trusts must have a trustee-manager whose role is to safeguard the interests of beneficiaries (referred to as ‘unitholders’ under the Business Trusts Act) of the trust and to manage the business of the trust.

Business Trusts offer investors a way to invest in cash-generating assets, including infrastructure, real estate and transportation assets. The 11 Business Trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have a combined market capitalisation of S\$14.8 billion and they averaged 3.9% price gain in the year-to-date, with dividends boosting its total return to 5.4%. The average dividend yield of 6.3% is more than twice the yield of the Singapore Fixed Income Index (SFI) at 2.9%. The SFI Corporate Bond Index however maintains a higher yield at 3.4%. This is based on data from Thomson Reuters DataStream.

The 11 Business Trusts are made up of four Property Trusts, four Infrastructure Trusts, two Shipping Trusts and a Specialty Trust. The Property Trusts are Ascendas India Trust, Indiabulls Trust, Religare Health Trust and Croesus Retail Trust. The Infrastructure Trusts consists of four trusts as well, and they are CitySpring Infrastructure Trust, Keppel Infrastructure Trust, Hutchison Port Trusts and Asian Pay TV Trust. As for Shipping Trusts, there are Rickmers Maritime and First Ship Lease Trust. And finally, the only specialty trust is Accordia Golf Trust.

The five best performing Business Trusts in terms of total return year-to-date were First Ship Lease Trust (+24.5%), Ascendas India Trust (+10.4%), Asian Pay Television Trust (+8.1%), Keppel Infrastructure Trust (+5.9%), and Religare Health Trust (+5.5%). These five Business Trusts invest in India healthcare and real estate sectors, and Asian energy infrastructure/shipping sectors.

Details of the relevant Business Trusts are in the table below.

Company Name SGX Code Mkt Cap S\$M % Price Change YTD % Change – Div Adj. YTD % Change - Div Adj.[1 Year] % Div
Yield		 Primary Industry
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust NS8U 8,351.6 0.0 4.4 18.1 7.7 Marine Ports and Services
Asian Pay Television Trust S7OU 1,336.2 8.1 8.1 31.6 8.9 Cable and Satellite
Religare Health Trust RF1U 838.3 5.5 5.5 35.7 7.8 Healthcare Facilities
Ascendas India Trust CY6U 833.3 10.4 10.4 26.5 5.3 Real Estate Operating Companies
Accordia Golf Trust ADQU 824.3 0.0 0.0 - - Leisure Facilities
CitySpring Infrastructure Trust A7RU 812.6 0.9 2.5 22.8 6.1 Gas Utilities
Keppel Infrastructure Trust LH4U 680.2 1.4 5.9 14.5 7.2 Environmental and Facilities Services
Croesus Retail Trust S6NU 480.0 1.1 3.8 16.0 8.0 Real Estate Operating Companies
Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust F3EU 358.2 -10.4 -10.4 -20.6 0.3 Real Estate Operating Companies
Rickmers Maritime B1ZU 241.5 1.8 4.8 13.3 11.7 Marine Ports and Services
First Ship Lease Trust D8DU 83.1 24.5 24.5 58.8 0.0 Specialized Finance
Average     3.9 5.4 21.7 6.3  

Source: S&P Capital IQ (Data as of 16 March 2015)

Company Name SGX Code Mkt Cap S\$M Last Price (SGD) 30 Day Moving Average (SGD) 52 Week High Price (SGD) 52 Week Low Price (SGD) 52-Week High Date 52-Week Low Date
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust NS8U 8,351.6 0.959 0.951 1.060 0.861 10/06/14 21/03/14
Asian Pay Television Trust S7OU 1,336.2 0.930 0.912 0.940 0.740 10/03/15 17/04/14
Religare Health Trust RF1U 838.3 1.050 1.060 1.140 0.830 06/02/15 31/03/14
Ascendas India Trust CY6U 833.3 0.905 0.903 0.950 0.720 04/03/15 08/10/14
Accordia Golf Trust ADQU 824.3 0.750 0.766 0.925 0.730 29/09/14 17/12/14
CitySpring Infrastructure Trust A7RU 812.6 0.535 0.539 0.560 0.460 19/11/14 21/03/14
Keppel Infrastructure Trust LH4U 680.2 1.080 1.080 1.110 1.010 19/11/14 18/03/14
Croesus Retail Trust S6NU 480.0 0.935 0.944 1.020 0.875 28/08/14 09/04/14
Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust F3EU 358.2 0.095 0.102 0.145 0.090 10/07/14 16/05/14
Rickmers Maritime B1ZU 241.5 0.285 0.288 0.305 0.280 22/08/14 13/03/15
First Ship Lease Trust D8DU 83.1 0.127 0.134 0.148 0.081 12/02/15 17/06/14

Source: S&P Capital IQ (Data as of 16 March 2015)

The five largest capitalised Business Trusts are Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, Asian Pay Television Trust, Religare Health Trust, Ascendas India Trust, and Accordia Golf Trust. They have a combined market capitalisation of S\$12.2 billion, and they averaged 4.8% price gain in the year thus far, with dividends boosting its average total return to 5.7%.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, together with its subsidiaries, invests in, develops, operates, and manages deep-water container ports in Guangdong Province of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The company also invests in other types of port assets, including river ports, as well as undertakes certain port ancillary services, which consist of trucking, feedering, freight forwarding, supply chain management, warehousing, and distribution services.

On 27 February 2015, the trust reported that their revenue for the financial year ended 31 December 2014, increased by 1.7% year on year to HK\$ 12.5 billion.
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust generated a YTD total return of 4.4% year to date and maintains a dividend yield of 7.7%.

Asian Pay Television Trust

Asian Pay Television Trust operates as a cable TV system operator in Taiwan. The company provides basic cable TV and digital cable TV services; and value-added services, such as broadband Internet access and cable telephony services, as well as premium digital television programming to households and businesses. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Singapore.

On 24 February 2015, the trust reported that their revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2014, increased by 4.0% year on year to S\$ 81.8 million.

Asian Pay Television Trust generated a YTD total return of 8.1% year to date and maintains a dividend yield of 8.9%.

Religare Health Trust
Religare Health Trust, a business trust, provides medical and clinical establishment services in India. The Trust’s investment mandate is principally to invest in medical and healthcare assets in Asia, Australasia and emerging markets in the rest of the world. Currently the portfolio assets are all located in India and comprises of 12 Clinical Establishments, 4 Greenfield Clinical Establishments and 2 Operating Hospitals.

On 13 February 2015, the trust reported their revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2014, increased by 26.9% year on year to S\$ 34.1 million. As noted in the accompanying statement, the increase in revenue is mainly due to the increase in service and variable fees from Gurgaon clinical establishment.

Religare Health Trust generated a YTD total return of 5.5% year to date and maintains a dividend yield of 7.8%.

Ascendas India Trust

Ascendas India Trust engages in the ownership of real estate properties primarily used as business space and real estate related assets in India. It also involves in the development, ownership, and management of information technology parks in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai. In addition, the company focuses on acquiring, holding, and developing land or uncompleted developments to be used primarily for business space.

On 26 January 2015, the trust reported their total property income for the quarter ended 31 December 2014, increased by 10% year on year to S\$ 31.8 million. As noted in the accompanying statement, the increase was mainly due to rental income from Aviator, which became operational in January 2014 and positive rental reversions in Chennai.
Ascendas India Trust generated a YTD total return of 10.4% year to date and maintains a dividend yield of 5.3%.

Accordia Golf Trust

Accordia Golf Trust owns, operates, and maintains golf courses and golf course related assets in Japan. The company is based in Singapore.

On 13 February 2015, the trust reported their financial results for the period from the listing date (1 August 2014) to 31 December 2014. The trust generated a revenue of JPY 23.5 billion for the period reported.

Accordia Golf Trust has a market capitalisation of S\$824.3 million and the price remains unchanged in the year-to-date.