Properties Ltd (KP Reit) indicates from financials submitted this week that the group benefited from the addition to its portfolio of new properties in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, with rentals climbing 63 per cent during the quarter ending March 31.

The company posted rental income of $50.1 million compared to $30.7 million for the same period in 2016.The Group recorded profit before finance charges of $23.7 million in the first quarter of 2017 compared with $124.3 million in the same quarter in 2016.The figure in 2016 included fair value gains on investment properties of $116.9 million from the revaluation of two properties owned by the Group in South Florida.In January 2017, the company acquired a block in South Bay Beach Cayman, comprising offices, retail outlets and residences. It also acquired more office and warehouse space in Kingston, Jamaica, in that month.In comments attached to the financials, directors said these additions have also boosted operating results, which saw an almost quadrupling of net operating income to $23.6 million in 2017 compared with $6.4 million in 2016.They said the company continues to focus on its strategy of identifying properties “that have strong fundamentals that provide attractive cash yields as well as high potential for capital appreciation”.Investment properties for KP Reit totalled $2.5 billion as at March 31, 2017, versus $1.68 billion as at March 31, 2016 – an increase of 49 per cent, reflecting the additions.Total assets stood at $2.6 billion compared to $1.85 billion the previous year, an increase of 41 per cent.Group operating expenses, which include direct property expenses and administrative expenses, increased from $24.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, to $31.4 million for the same period in 2017, an increase of 29 per cent.Directors noted that operating expenses reflect higher year over year direct property charges such as broker fees and commissions, HOA fees, insurance and property taxes.Net finance costs of $8.4 million were recorded in the first quarter of 2017compared with net finance income of $6.2 million in 2016. The difference reflected higher borrowings in 2017 vis-à-vis 2016 to facilitate the group’s acquisition strategy, it was noted.Directors are eyeing opportunities in the South Florida condominium market where the company owns property, with comments that median sale prices for townhouses and condos recorded a year-on-year increase in March 2017 of seven per cent when compared to the same period in 2016.Over the same period, average sales prices saw a 21 per cent year-on-year increase when compared with the same period in 2016, moving from US$354,283 to US$429,384.— BY AVIA COLLINDER