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NOTE TO
UNITHOLDERS
Dear Unitholders,
We strive to make a difference to our stakeholders, including
our customers, the local community and our valued
Unitholders. We won two important awards last year that
demonstrated our commitment to that ethos. In managing
a-iTrust, we are committed to the highest standards of
corporate governance. We received the Merit award in the
2012 Singapore Corporate Governance Award, accorded
by the Securities Investor Association of Singapore. Our
Bangalore property, International Tech Park Bangalore,
was awarded the FIABCI Prix d’ Excellence Award in the
Industrial Category. The FIABCI Prix d’ Excellence Award
recognises property projects which embody excellence
in all real estate disciplines. When International Tech Park
Bangalore was frst conceptualised in 1992, the site area
was a patch of barren land. Today, the modern IT Park hosts
over 30,000 workers in a self-contained urban ecosystem. It
provides the complete solution to our customers, offering a
host of amenities and recreational activities, including a fve-
star hotel and retail mall.
In the past year, we worked hard at strengthening our
assets and fnancial position. In October 2012, we raised
approximately S$100 million via a private placement. This
transaction yielded multiple benefts for the Trust. Firstly,
the gearing ratio of a-iTrust was reduced as we used part
of the proceeds to pay down existing loans. Secondly, it
provided the Trust with additional debt headroom to grow
its business. Lastly, the higher free foat helped trigger an
increase in unit trading volumes post the private placement.
At the start of the fnancial year ended March 2013
(“FY12/13”), we made the decision to retain 10%
of income available for distribution to fund capital
expenditure. We felt that this was a necessary and prudent
measure to provide a-iTrust with greater fexibility to
manage its cash fows. In FY12/13 our portfolio achieved
healthy occupancy of 96% and we concluded over 1.2
million sq ft of leasing transactions. While our underlying
operations performed well, we faced macro-economic
headwinds that diminished our fnancial returns in
Singapore Dollar terms. Even though we grew our FY12/13
revenue by 13% in Indian Rupee terms, the appreciation
of the Singapore Dollar against the Indian Rupee caused
revenue to remain almost fat in Singapore Dollar terms.
As a result of the unfavourable currency movement and
retention of income, the Trust’s FY12/13 distribution per
unit fell to 4.65 Singapore cents. We recognise the negative
ramifcations of the weak Indian Rupee on Unitholder
returns, and employ hedging strategies to moderate its
effects. We decided on the current approach after much
consideration, but will adjust accordingly if the situation
warrants it. We explain our hedging strategies in the risk
management section of the annual report if you wish to learn
more about it.
Going forward, we remained focused on growing the Trust
to deliver higher returns for Unitholders. Since 2007, we
have grown the size of the portfolio by compound annual
growth rate of 12%. That was achieved by developing land
held by the Trust and acquiring new properties from the
market. We expect continued portfolio growth this year as
Aviator, a new 601,360 sq ft IT building in Bangalore, is
scheduled to be completed by December 2013. Besides
Aviator, we invested in aVance building 3, a 690,520 sq ft
IT building in Hyderabad that is under construction. We
intend to buy over the building when it is completed and
let out. Besides aVance 3, we have the rights to acquire
two other IT buildings with a total of 1.09 million sq ft to be
built in the future.
As we look ahead, we wish to express our sincere
appreciation to our directors and staff for their dedicated
service and commitment to a-iTrust over the past year.
On behalf of the Board, we extend a warm welcome to
our new independent directors Mr Girijia Pande and Mr
Ng Eng Leng. In addition, we also thank Mr Amal Ganguli
and Mr Cavinder Bull, who have relinquished their Board
positions, for providing invaluable advice and guidance to
management. Last but not least, special thanks go to our
Unitholders for their strong support of a-iTrust.
Philip Yeo
Chairman
Jonathan Yap
CEO
Note to Unitholders
Acknowledgements
We wish to extend a warm welcome to our new independent
director Mr Mohandas Pai, who joined us during the fnancial
year. W thank ll directors for sharing their invaluable
insights in g idin the m nagement team and looking after
Unithold rs’ interests. We would also like to thank our staff
for th ir dedicat d service and hard work. Last, and certainly
not leas , we wish to xp ess our since e appreciation to our
t nants, business part ers, nd Unitholders for their strong
support of a-iTrust.
a-i
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Pa
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Philip Yeo
Chairman
Jonathan Yap
CEO