Floating Button
Home Capital Broker's Calls

Keppel DC REIT's DPU could rise by as much as 5% from AEI of SGP1 says JP Morgan

The Edge Singapore
The Edge Singapore  • 3 min read
Keppel DC REIT's DPU could rise by as much as 5% from AEI of SGP1 says JP Morgan
SGP KDC 1 Photo credit Keppel DC REIT
Font Resizer
Share to Whatsapp
Share to Facebook
Share to LinkedIn
Scroll to top
Follow us on Facebook and join our Telegram channel for the latest updates.

During Keppel DC REIT’s 1QFY2026 results announcement, the manager articulated that it is considering a "transformational" AEI for KDC SPG 1, a data centre with just 53% occupancy by net lettable area (NLA). In a report dated May 11, JP Morgan says that KDC SGP 1 is the only asset owned by Keppel DC REIT in Singapore that is without a full Green Mark certification suggesting that its PUE of 1.25 or power usage effectiveness has failed to meet the minimum standard for certification.

“The potential transformational AEI at SGP 1 would be best realised through redevelopment into a new data centre. Redevelopment targeting a PUE of 1.25, in line with DC-CFA2 requirements, would yield efficiency gains of 36-52%, assuming an existing PUE of 1.7-1.9,” JP Morgan says in its report.

Data Centre – Call for Application (DC-CFA) is a Singapore government initiative (led by EDB and IMDA) to facilitate new, sustainable data centre capacity. DC-CFA2 (announced Dec 2025, closing March 31), requires a data centre to have 50% green energy and "best-in-class" energy efficiency with a PUE of at least 1.3.

“Additional upside could come from Singapore’s Green Data Centre Roadmap capacity expansion and income/valuation uplift, while addressing potential mandatory PUE requirements under the proposed Digital Infrastructure Act,” JP Morgan suggests.

An AEI that delivers higher PUE would add between 2.9% to 5% more to distributions per unit (DPU) by FY2028, JP Morgan estimates, underpinned by a 114%-173% uplift in net property income (NPI) on redevelopment costs of $251 million to $320 million, based on 11-14MW of capacity and an ROI of 6.8%-8.1%.

“If KDCREIT secures 15% additional power, the accretion will rise to 4.1% to 6.5%,” JP Morgan further estimates.

See also: AEM jumps again following 1QFY2026 results; DBS raises target price to $11.80

During the interim, JP Morgan believes that the income loss from SGP 1 which contributed $16.5 million in gross rental income (GRI) in FY2025 compared to total GRI of $441.36 could be offset by raising the amount of management fees in units to 55% from 27%.

KDC SGP 1’s performance has lagged the REIT's other Singapore assets. “We believe KDC SGP 1’s redevelopment will help close the gap. The proposed redevelopment is comfortably within KDCREIT's 10% development limit relative to its $6.3 billion portfolio. While management may consider divesting a stake to de-risk execution, we believe KDCREIT should pursue the redevelopment on its own balance sheet, given tight occupancies and elevated Singapore data centre demand,” JP Morgan says.

The US bank has an overweight rating for Keppel DC REIT; it has raised its end-June 2027 target to $2.60 from $2.55 previously; and has also raised DPU for 2026 and 2027 by 5.8% and 5% respectively due to lower interest costs and higher Singapore income from reversions and acquisitions.

×
The Edge Singapore
Download The Edge Singapore App
Google playApple store play
Keep updated
Follow our social media
© 2026 The Edge Publishing Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.