Highlights:

Achieved an 87% increase in profit after tax and minority interest (“PATMI”) of S$393.8 million in FY09 due to strong operations and the recognition of development value-add and revaluation gains

Operating PATMI increased 19% from S$199.2 million in FY08 to S$236.5 million in FY09 despite challenging economic conditions

Total real estate assets, both owned and managed, grew 9% to S$12.9 billion in FY09 from S$11.8 billion in FY08

Continued focus on robust capital management model with plans to establish new public REITs and private real estate funds

Singapore – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree), a leading Asia-focused real estate and capital management company, held its inaugural media briefing for the financial year ended 31 March 2010 (FY09). Mapletree delivered a strong performance in FY09, achieving a PATMI of S$393.8 million. This represented an increase of 87% over FY08’s S$210.3 million. The increase is attributed primarily to an improved Operating PATMI of S$236.5 million as compared to S$199.2 million in FY08, development value-add from the Group’s development of Mapletree Business City as well as revaluation gains from its existing properties .

Revenue in FY09 increased to S$453.5 million as the Group recorded improved rent for its investment properties in Singapore and from higher fee income from its public and private real estate funds. Excluding sales revenue from The Beacon, a residential development project in Singapore that was fully sold and completed in FY08, the Group’s revenue increased by 11% on a like for like basis, despite the tough economic conditions. Fee income from its listed REIT, Mapletree Logistics Trust (MapletreeLog) and its private real estate funds, Mapletree industrial Fund (MIF), Mapletree India China Fund (MIC Fund) and Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT), grew 11% from S$72.1 million in FY08 to S$79.9 million in FY09.

Group Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT) and Share of Associates (SOA) grew 19% in FY09 to S$345.8 million from S$290.9 million in FY08. This strong performance was driven by, amongst others, improved rental income, effective cost management, and a higher share of operating profit from its listed and private funds – MapletreeLog, Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) (comprising the ex-JTC portfolio which was acquired in July 2008) and MIF.

Mr Hiew Yoon Khong, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mapletree said, “We are pleased to record another year of outperformance for Mapletree, especially in light of the challenging business environment we were operating in. Since 2004, when we adopted a fee-based income and capital management growth model, we have delivered consistent growth annually. This track record in delivering value across all our business platforms has demonstrated the robustness of our business model and our capability to deliver sustainable growth, even during tough market conditions. ”

The three areas that the Group has been focusing on, namely: growing its capital management franchise in real estate fund management; investing in markets and sectors with good growth potential in Asia; as well as growing its capabilities in integrated precinct developments in the region; have helped the Group to scale up its operations in Asia.

To date, the Group has grown its owned and managed real estate assets nearly 3 times from S$3.5 billion in FY05 to S$12.9 billion in FY09. Of this, S$6.1 billion comprises third party assets under management (AUM), while owned real estate assets stand at S$6.8 billion. Mr Hiew said, “As a real estate capital management company, our goal is to manage more third party assets. Our target is to grow this ratio of third party AUM and owned assets to at least 3:1.”

Mr Wong Mun Hoong, Group Chief Financial Officer said, “Our strong balance sheet backed by our robust capital management business model and our proactive and prudent approach to managing our capital and liquidity requirements, had enabled us to build up sufficient financial flexibility to meet our commitments and capitalise on growth opportunities that came up during the year.”

“It is our priority to maintain a healthy funding and liquidity position. As at 31 March 2010, we have cash and undrawn banking facilities of more than S$2 billion, as well as about S$1.5 billion issue capacity under our Medium Term Note Programme. In addition, we have US$700 million uncalled capital under our funds for additional investments and developments in Asia. We are in a strong position to scale up our businesses for our next phase of growth,” he added.

Looking Ahead

Mr Hiew said,” Having developed our capabilities as a real estate capital manager, we have plans to launch more REITs and private real estate funds, including an industrial REIT comprising the Mapletree Industrial Trust portfolio, as well as the Mapletree Commercial Trust with properties from the HarbourFront and Alexandra precincts including the award-winning VivoCity. In view of the growing demand from investors in Asian real estate, we will also consider launching more country-focused funds. These could potentially include a second China-focused fund to undertake new projects once the MIC Fund is fully committed for its China allocation, a new Vietnam Fund, where we have already identified a pipeline of commercial and residential projects to seed the proposed fund, as well as a China-focused industrial fund and a Japan fund focused on investing in IT-related business space.”

He added, “We are optimistic about our growth in the year ahead. We will continue to scale up our fund management platforms and increase the share of assets under our management, as part of our overall growth strategy for the Group.”