Treasury China Trust portfolio rises to €1.5bn

Treasury China Trust, the Singapore-listed company in which former Treasury Holdings owners Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan are significant shareholders, said the total value of its China real-estate portfolio rose 4.8 per cent to 12.6 billion (€1.5 billion) in 2012.

“The 4.8 per cent rise continues the logic of being invested in commercial real estate here, particularly with Shanghai as your fortress. There were strong occupancy rates across the portfolio, and rent growth through expiring leases is very good,” said Richard David, chief executive of TCT.

The company’s strong performance reflected “the very strong demarcation between Treasury Holdings – a private company – and TCT, a listed company in Singapore”.

The liquidator of Treasury Holdings has been in discussions Mr Barrett and Mr Ronan over the sale of two subsidiaries of the failed property developer in August, Treasury Holdings Real Estate Pte Ltd and Treasury Holdings (Shanghai) Property Management Co Ltd. Both were subsidiaries of Treasury Holdings and provided management services to TCT.

Mr David said TCT would release full-year accounts on February 27th.

Details about the fees the trustee manager and the property manager generated last year would be released then.

Last year, there had been controversy over the amount of influence Mr Barrett and Mr Ronan, who hold 30 per cent of TCT between them, had in the trustee manager.

Mr David said that the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) had not found fault with the way the company was run.

“As a listed vehicle, the SGX has taken an interest in all companies listed, particularly as we had a number of announcements and issues surrounding Treasury Holdings, including the issue around Treasury Holdings going into liquidation,” said Mr David.

“And this is reflected in our share price, which is up 60 per cent since September 6, when it was down at S$1 (€0.60), and it closed at S$1.60 (€0.96) today,” said Mr David.

TCT listed in Singapore in June 2010 and has substantial real-estate holdings in China.