Distributions

Distribution Policy

NetLink NBN Trust's distribution policy is to distribute 100% of its cash available for distribution ("CAFD").

Distributions by the Trust will be made on a semi-annual basis, with the amount calculated as at 31 March and 30 September, each year for the 6-month period ending on each of the said dates.

The Trustee-Manager will pay the distributions no later than 90 days after the end of each distribution period. The Trust's first distribution, for the period from the Listing Date to 31 March 2018, was paid as a distribution in cash to the Trust's unitholders ("Unitholders") on 8 June 2018.

CAFD

Any proposed distributions by the Trust will be paid from CAFD and available cash as determined by the Trustee-Manager. CAFD is a non-SFRS financial measure and represents cash flows from distributions received by the Trust from NetLink Trust ("NLT"), principal and interest payments (net of applicable taxes and expenses) received by the Trust from NLT pursuant to the NLT Notes1, and any other cash received by the Trust from NLT, after such cash flows have been applied to:

  • pay the expenses of the Trust, the Trustee-Manager and Singapore NBN Trust2, including the Trustee-Manager's fees;
  • repay any principal amounts (including any premium or fee) under any debt or financing arrangement of the Trust, excluding any debt or financing arrangement that is refinanced with new debt incurrence;
  • provide for the working capital requirements of the Trust as well as for any reserves and provisions deemed appropriate by the Trustee-Manager; and
  • pay any interest or other financing expense on any debt or financing arrangement of the Trust.

NLT's Distributable Income

In addition to interest payments on the NLT Notes, NLT will pay cash distributions to the Trust from NLT's Distributable Income, being NLT's consolidated profit before tax for that distribution period adjusted for:

  • non-cash adjustments such as depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortisation of intangibles and the Singapore government grant, unrealised income and unrealised losses and provisions;
  • cash adjustments such as increase or decrease in working capital when compared to the working capital for the previous distribution period, taxes paid in that distribution period, capital expenditure not funded through incurrence of debt, non-recurring expenses and non-recurring income (as deemed appropriate by NetLink Management Pte. Ltd. in its capacity as trustee of NLT, or "NLT Trustee") and repayment of any principal amounts (including any premium or fee) under any debt or financing arrangement of NLT or any of its subsidiaries, excluding any debt or financing arrangement that is refinanced with new debt incurrence; and
  • net reserves set aside (as deemed appropriate by the NLT Trustee) for purposes such as future capital expenditure (including the funding of the capital expenditure reserve fund pursuant to the Capex Reserve Requirement3), debt repayment and working capital as may be required.

NLT distribution policy is to distribute at least 90% of its Distributable Income to the Trust.

  1. "NLT Notes" refer to the $1.1 billion in principal amount of subordinated notes due 2037 issued by NLT to the Trust, which are qualifying project debt securities (QPDS).
  2. Singapore NBN Trust is the trust constituted by a deed of trust dated 21 February 2017 pursuant to which all the shares in the Trustee-Manager are held by the trustee of Singapore NBN Trust on trust for the benefit of the Unitholders from time to time.
  3. "Capex Reserve Requirement" is the requirement for NLT to set aside monies into a capital expenditure reserve fund amounting to an aggregate of S$40 million over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, to meet regulatory requirements from IMDA or for any new network infrastructure projects that improve the capacity, technology, capability or resilience of NLT's network infrastructure.
Period Distribution Per Unit
(Singapore Cents)
FY 2024 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023 2.65
FY 2023 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 2.62
FY 2023 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022 2.62
FY 2022 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 2.57
FY 2022 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021 2.56
FY 2021 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 2.55
FY 2021 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 2.53
FY 2020 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 2.53
FY 2020 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019 2.52
FY 2019 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 2.44
FY 2019 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 2.44
FY 2018 19 July 2017 to 31 March 2018 3.24