KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Atrium Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has declared a distribution per unit for the first financial quarter ended March 31, 2015 (1QFY15) of 1.70 sen, down 22.7% from the 2.20 sen recorded in the previous corresponding period.

This is a result of its net income falling in tandem to RM2.1 million in the quarter under review, from RM2.75 million in 1QFY14; revenue was at RM3.55 million, down 15.55% from RM4.2 million a year ago.

In its filing to Bursa Malaysia today, Atrium REIT (fundamental: 1.9; valuation: 2.7) said the decrease was mainly due to the rental void in Atrium Puchong and an increase in trust expenses, even though there was an increase in other incomes.

“The increase in trust expenses is due to the increase in manager’s fees finance costs and other expenses. The higher manager’s fees was due to higher net asset value, whilst finance costs increased due to Bank Negara revising the Overnight Policy Rate to 3.25% in July 2014,” Atrium REIT said.

The REIT closed unchanged at RM1.20 today. It has a market capitalisation of RM146.16 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)