Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT re-affirmed its full-year distribution payout on Tuesday, but only after dipping into its cash reserves to plug an earnings shortfall, as its finance costs soared due to higher interest rates.and trades under the ticker CQE, reported operating earnings of $29.6 million over the six months to December, a 3.9 per cent fall on the prior corresponding period.
“Our investors value the distribution. It is why they invest. So, we have made the decision to hold the distribution [despite lower earnings],” he said.Driving the lower operating earnings was a 160 per cent increase in finance costs over the half-year to $12.2 million as the trust used debt to fund acquisitions and as it felt the impact of higher borrowing costs. Its weighted average cost of debt rose 90 basis points to 4.1 per cent.
Looking ahead, Mr Butcher said the fund had a number of levers it could pull to drive operating earnings growth, including upcoming market rent reviews and the gains that would come from investing in larger assets outside the childcare sector. Investments in life sciences, healthcare, transport, emergency services and higher education have reduced CQE’s exposure to childcare from 96 per cent of income as of June 2019 to 77 per cent as of December 2022.
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