Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust
(ASX:BJT) has slashed the value of its property portfolio by 13.3 per cent.
The Trusts portfolio as at June 30 was valued at $1.6 billion.
Senior adviser to the board, Eric Lucas, says challenging economic conditions in Japan in the first half of 2009, including the worst gross domestic product number in over 50 years, has translated into valuers applying higher average capitalisation rates and lower assumed cash flows to the portfolio.
However the company says despite the soft operating environment, the trusts portfolio is approximately 94 per cent occupied by income as at June 30 2009, only slightly down from 96 per cent as at December 31 2008.
Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust says even after these revaluations, the trust remains in compliance with both of its gearing ratio covenants.
Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust’s 2008 net profit dipped slightly from the year before.
