OUE C-REIT, which comprises OUE Bayfront and Lippo Plaza, IPO at a price of $0.80. It offers investor a yield of 6.8% which is considered rather high for a non-industrial REIT. The price-to-book ratio is 0.77x which offers investor a 'discount' to the book value that is one of the largest among all the S-REITs. As always, the devil is in the detail.

Office properties are typically sold at a capitalization rate of 3.5% as compared to 5% for retail properties and 6.5% for industrial properties. However, the average dividend yield for office REIT is around 6.5% as compared to 6% for retail REIT and 7.5% for industrial REIT. Capitalisation rate is similar to PE in that it is Net Property Income (NPI) / Property Value. Obviously, something has to been done to pump up the NPI yield by 3%.

Same Old Tricks ......