Citicore Energy REIT Corporation (CREIT), the country’s first and largest renewable energy real estate investment trust, posted a 12 percent improvement in net income to P1.4 billion last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said its revenues rose 31 percent to P1.8 billion on the back of a strong guaranteed base lease, augmented by the new properties acquired in 2023. 

CREIT completed its second year as a full-fledged REIT company, generating largely resilient lease revenues, compared with purely electricity sales at the onset of its operations. 

In 2023 alone, CREIT’s landholdings added seven parcels of land totaling 5.12 million square meters of value accretive assets. The company’s unique green asset portfolio grew 4.3 times since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2022.

Furthermore, CREIT's assets are backed by 100 percent occupancy all year-round, ensuring stable operations and earnings. CREIT’s stable operations resulted in 2023 net income and EBITDA margins at 78 percent and 99 percent respectively.

“The higher income we generated as a renewable energy REIT allows us to continuously increase value to our shareholders by declaring dividends beyond the mandated 90 percent of distributable income,” said CREIT President and CEO Oliver Tan.

With the strong performance, CREIT has declared a full year 2023 total dividend of P0.199 per share, compared with P0.183 a share the prior year. This translates to a 7.8 percent dividend yield based on the December 29, 2023 closing price of P2.56 per CREIT share.

For the second straight year, CREIT paid out 106 percent of the company’s distributable income, derived from the guaranteed and variable leases, well-above the required 90 percent as stated in the REIT Law. CREIT has been named a constituent of the PSE Dividend Yield Index (PSE DivY Index) since Feb. 6, 2023.

On March 27, 2024, Philippine conglomerate SM Investments Corporation acquired a 28.79 percent interest in CREIT for P5 billion from CREIT’s sponsor, Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC).

CREC will continue to be the single largest stakeholder in CREIT with a 32.88 percent effective ownership post-transaction.

“We believe SMIC’s investment is a vote of confidence in CREIT’s prospects and CREC’s business model. As a trusted partner, we remain committed to further build on our green asset portfolio, anchored on CREC’s plan to pursue its 5GW growth pipeline in the next five years,” said Tan.

Proceeds from the sale will contribute to the further development of CREC’s 1,583MW ready-to-build and under construction solar power projects across eight site locations nationwide as of Dec. 31, 2023.

This is in line with CREC’s goal of contributing approximately 1.0GW of solar energy capacity per year as part of its 5-year pipeline rollout roadmap. This expansion is likewise expected to fuel the growth of CREIT’s property assets, being CREC’s primary landlord.