Embassy REIT Provides Operational Update for Second Quarter of FY2020-21

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India:  Embassy Office Parks REIT (NSE: EMBASSY / BSE: 542602) (‘Embassy REIT’), India’s first listed REIT and the largest in Asia by area, is pleased to provide the following update on its operations and financial position for the second quarter of the financial year 2020-21.

Business Continuity during COVID-19

• All our properties across India continue to remain open and operate in compliance with all government regulations to support business continuity of our occupiers
• Over 95% of our occupiers and over 15,500 employees operated from our properties in September 2020, compared to 8,500 employees on an average during 1Q FY2021
• Construction work continued across 2.7 million square feet (msf) ongoing development within existing campuses; labour ramp-up at site now at c.80% of peak capacity

Health and Safety

• Continued support to our occupiers as they re-populate their offices, launched #OfficeAgain campaign to engage and update employees on various health and safety initiatives
• Received the British Safety Council’s global benchmark certification for health and safety practices implemented in controlling the spread of COVID-19 across our pan India office portfolio
• Received the British Standards Institution’s assurance certificate on our Environmental, Social & Governance processes for 2019-20 in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework

Rental Collections 

• Rental collections for 2Q FY2021 from office occupiers remained robust at 98.5% (as of date), in-line with robust office rental collections of 99.9% for 1Q FY2021
• Rental increases of 11% achieved on 1.9 msf in 2Q FY2021 across 18 office leases, with YTD rental increases of 12% on 3.7 msf across 40 office leases

Financial Position

• Successfully raised listed debentures aggregating to ₹7.5 billion at a competitive 7.25% quarterly coupon, to be utilized towards refinancing existing debt, construction development and for general corporate purposes
• Conservative balance sheet with low leverage of 16% as of September 30, 2020
• Strong liquidity position with existing cash and undrawn commitments of ₹12.2 billion as of September 30, 2020

Mike Holland, CEO of Embassy REIT commented, “The continued resilience of our business is reflected in our robust rent collections, gradual ramp-up in occupiers working in our parks, and our recent health and safety certifications received from global renowned institutions. Further, our recent debt raise at competitive rates in the current volatile markets reflects the strength of our balance sheet and our ability to access liquidity.”

The information above contains certain financial measures which are not audited or reviewed. Embassy REIT will announce its detailed 2Q FY2021 business and financial performance update post its 2Q Board Meeting and will release the date and time of its 2Q earnings call in due course.

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