Tail-end of economic recession? Singapore technically exited the recession in 2Q09 with a q-q SAAR GDP of 20.7%. The official forecast from MTI is a contraction of 4% to 6% for 2009. That being said, the share price of CDL HT has re-rated from 0.3 times book value seen in March this year to approximately 1 times book value currently, on optimism of the recovering economy. We believe that CDL HT will continue to re-rate to its historical average of above 1.5 times book value seen during the economic boom of 2007 if the cards are lined up properly.
Tourism 2015. The Singapore government has set a target to achieve 17 million tourist arrivals and tourist revenue of $30 billion by 2015. Hospitality operators like CDL HT will stand to benefit from the government initiatives.
Healthy balance sheet. CDL HT has one of the lowest gearing among the S-REITs. We view this as prudence on management part in managing capital usage well. CDL HT has gearing of 19% and total debt of $287 million. We believe with the backing of a strong sponsor, it has better access to funding sources.
Strong sponsor, benefits aplenty. The sponsor of CDL HT is M&C Hotels plc which is majority owned by City Development Ltd. With a right of first refusal from the sponsor, there are ample acquisition opportunities for CDL HT to expand its portfolio. Furthermore, management has indicated that it has the expertise to operate its hotels if any of its lessees decides to terminate their leases.
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