Starhill Global REIT (SG REIT) is a retail/office REIT that owns 10 properties in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, and Australia. Its largest assets are Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City which are located along the prime Orchard Road shopping belt. As of 30 June 2020, SG REIT’s properties were valued at S$2.9 billion. SG REIT has been in my portfolio for a few years now and paid me a decent dividend yield-on-cost of 6% to 7% per annum. However, the pandemic has decimated the retail and travel industries which have affected SG REIT doubly hard as its prime malls welcome a higher share of tourist traffic compared to suburban malls. I attended SG REIT’s recent AGM to learn how it plans to navigate the challenges posed by COVID-19 and whether it can sustain its dividend. Here are seven things I learned from the 2020 Starhill Global REIT AGM.

1. Gross revenue fell 12.3% year-on-year to S$180.8 million and net property income (NPI) fell 17.1% y-o-y to

...