MREIT declares smaller Q4 dividend

MREIT [MREIT 14.0 2.3%] [link] declared a Q4/22 dividend of P0.2428/share, payable on Feb 15 to shareholders of record as of Jan 24.

The dividend has an annualized yield of 6.93% based on the previous closing price, which is 1.62% smaller than Q4's pre-dividend annualized yield of 6.97%.

The total amount of the dividend is P615 million, which is 98% of the P628 million in distributable income that MREIT reported for the quarter.

Relative to MREIT's IPO price, the dividend increased MREIT's total stock and dividend return to -3.87%, up from its pre-dividend total return of -5.38%.

MREIT noted that the dividend does not include income from the property-for-share swap that MREIT announced nine months ago, which still has not yet been approved by the SEC.

MREIT said that it “hopes” the SEC will approve the transaction before the end of this quarter, and that once approved, “income from these assets will be recognized retroactively beginning January 1 of this year”. MREIT is the first REIT to declare a Q4/22 dividend.

MB BOTTOM-LINE

This is the second straight MREIT dividend that is smaller than the previous quarter’s dividend, and it is the smallest dividend that MREIT has declared in 2022.

I’m not sure what is causing the SEC to drag its feet so hard on approving these property-for-share swaps, but it feels counter-productive for investor confidence in the REIT structure for there to be such significant delays.

If there are problems, flag and allow MREIT to correct. If there are no problems, finish the review. This mode of asset injection is a huge component of the REIT playbook.

Don’t make investors wait a year. That’s crazy.

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