Embassy REIT’s Q2 rentals climb 11%, rental collections at 98.5%

Embassy Office Parks REIT’s rental collections from office occupiers for second quarter (Q2) of FY2021 stood at 98.5 per cent.

The company’s rentals increased by 11 per cent on 1.9 million square feet (msf) in Q2 FY2021 across 18 office leases, with year-to-date (YTD) rental increases of 12 per cent on 3.7 msf across 40 office leases.

In a regulatory filing to the exchanges, Mike Holland, CEO of Embassy REIT, said, “The continued resilience of our business is reflected in our robust rent collections, gradual ramp-up in occupiers working in our parks, and our recent health and safety certifications received from globally-renowned institutions. Further, our recent debt raise at competitive rates in the current volatile markets reflects the strength of our balance sheet and our ability to access liquidity.”

On its financial position, he said the company successfully issued debentures (listed) aggregating to ₹750 crore at a competitive 7.25 per cent quarterly coupon, to be utilised towards refinancing existing debt, construction development and for general corporate purposes. Its conservative balance sheet has low leverage of 16 per cent and strong liquidity position with existing cash and undrawn commitments of ₹1,220 crore as of September 30.

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On the business continuity front during Covid-19, the company said, “All our properties across India continue to remain open and operate, in compliance with all government regulations, to support business continuity of our occupiers. Over 95 per cent of our occupiers and over 15,500 employees operated from our properties in September 2020, compared to 8,500 employees on average during the first quarter (Q1) FY2021. Construction work continued across 2.7 msf ongoing development within existing campuses; labour ramp-up at site now at about 80 per cent of peak capacity.”

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