Most of us invest in REITs for their dividend yield but what makes a REIT exceptional is the ability of the REIT manager to grow the distribution per unit (DPU) over the years.
Below are the REITs with their annual historical distribution (in cents) I have held in my stock portfolio. The historical distribution can be easily found from the individual REIT website.
As you can see from the line chart I plotted above using the historical distribution, Parkway Life REIT and Frasers Commercial Trust have been able to grow their DPU consistently over the years as the line shows a gradual incline slope. Mapletree Commercial Trust should be able to form an incline slope as well but the line shows a decline because the 4Q2017 results are not yet announced.
Distribution per unit (DPU)for CapitaMall Trust and Suntec REIT looks rather flat over the last few years which reflects the current outlook for shopping malls.
Distribution per unit (DPU)for OUE Hospitality Trust declines as compared to FY14.
As you can see, by plotting the chart, it gives us a high level overview which are the REITs that is capable of growing their DPUs 5 years or more.
| FY12 | FY13 | FY14 | FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | % Growth | |
| ParkwayLife Reit | 10.31 | 10.75 | 11.52 | 13.29 | 12.12 | 13.35 | 29.5% |
| CapitaMall Trust | 9.46 | 10.27 | 10.84 | 11.25 | 11.13 | 11.16 | 18.0% |
| Mapletree Commercial Trust | 6.487 | 7.372 | 8 | 8.13 | 8.62 | 6.77 ** | 4.4% |
| OUE Hospitality Trust | NA | 2.9 | 6.74 | 6.55 | 4.61 | 5.14 | (23.7)% ^ |
| Frasers Commercial Trust | 6.69 | 7.83 | 8.51 | 9.71 | 9.82 | 9.82 | 46.8% |
| Suntec Reit | 9.49 | 9.328 | 9.4 | 10.002 | 10.003 | 10.005 | 5.4% |
^ Based on FY14 to FY17 since IPO in FY17
** Not the full year results.