RCR shareholders get pre-Christmas gift

RL Commercial REIT [RCR 5.99, up 0.7%; 172% avgVol] [link] declared a regular dividend of P0.1009/share, payable on November 29 to shareholders of record as of November 20. The dividend has an annualized yield of 6.74% based on the previous closing price (vs 6.62%). The total amount of the dividend is P1.59 billion, which is 74.5% of the P2.13 billion in distributable income that RCR reported for the quarter. RCR’s board also declared a special cash dividend of P0.026/share out of the same pool of distributable income, with the same record and payment date as the regular dividend. Combined with the regular dividend, RCR has distributed P4.12 billion in FY24 dividends out of P4.43 billion in FY24 distributable income, for a cumulative distribution ratio of approximately 93%. 

MB bottom-line: The press releases didn’t say it directly, but I think this configuration between special and regular dividends is due to the accrual of income from the injected properties that started in Q2, but was not officially made available to RCR shareholders until the swap was completed in Q3. As discussed in my piece about special and regular dividends, this is all about messaging and guidance. I think the regular dividend is indicative of what the blend of pre-existing and injected properties will generate for RCR shareholders going forward, and the special dividend is to bring RCR up into compliance with the REIT Law’s 90% dividend requirement. Without the special dividend, RCR would only have a cumulative distribution of 83.8% heading into the final quarter. I expect the Q4 dividend to be larger than this Q3 regular dividend, as RCR has made a point to always increase its quarterly dividend, even if only slightly, every single quarter. Congrats, RCR holders!

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