Prestige Estate: Listing of REIT may lead to re-rating

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
gearing up for its REIT IPO
It recently issued preferential shares to GIC worth Rs 430 crore at the price of Rs 323 (current market price has gone below this price and
is Rs 316) and has a REIT ready structure in place already. GIC already owns 4.4% in the company but with the preferential shares allotment
may be viewed as a step closer to the REIT IPO as it will bring the expertise to manage the REIT like Blackstone is managing for Embassy
The company CFO Venkat Narayan told ET that they plan to come out with the REIT IPO in the end of FY21, as by that time their three under
construction commercial projects will be ready, adding to the rental income and thus realizing better valuations. This could lead to value
which is expected to see huge flows in the coming years. Prestige management is expecting the rental income annual run rate to increase to
more than Rs 1500 crore from Rs 1100 crore in the end of FY20, thanks to the three commercial projects completing in 2020 and rent hikes in
some of the existing projects
The three new projects include two malls in Bangalore
re-rating and do away with high leverage concerns. At cap rate of 7.5% and rental income of Rs 1500 crore, could value Prestige REIT at Rs
20,000 crore
Embassy REIT is trading at a cap rate of 7% and Ascendas India trust REIT listed at Singapore is trading at near 6% cap rate
The money raised could either be used for re-paying the debt in the commercial projects which would rise to near Rs 4000 crore by the time
of REIT
Total net debt of the company currently is Rs 8500 crore and could rise to near Rs 9000 crore and is slightly on the higher side at present
Consolidated EBIDTA in first half was Rs 1020 crore from commercial as well as residential
The inventory is over Rs 3000 crore
The company could also use the money through IPO to reduce the debt in the residential business. Analysts are valuing the residual business
of residential and land bank at around Rs 7500-8000 crore, after adjusting the debt
Around the REIT time, residential business and commercial together could be valued around Rs 28,000
the subsidiary, so the IPO money goes into the balance sheet of Prestige estate
In that case the REIT value unlocking may not be fully recognized. Lower bond yields and lack of other opportunities have created the demand
for REIT products and hence lifted their valuations
Rise in the yields in future could have the reverse effect. Other risk being that the demand in real estate industry has not really picked
up
The company is sitting over inventory of Rs 3000 crore.