IN CONVERSATION WITH MANAGEMENT Our same-store portfolio valuation dipped 1.6% to US$913.8 million as at 31 December 2025, compared to US$928.9 million as at 31 December 2024. This reflects overall stabilisation and improvement across select U.S. office submarkets, and hopefully signals stronger performance going forward. Excluding Figueroa in Downtown Los Angeles which has been reclassified as an asset held for sale, portfolio valuation stayed relatively flat at US$815.7 million, compared to US$811.9 million a year ago. Q2 Why does MUST need the Growth and Value Up Plan? Why can’t the Manager work on simply improving the existing portfolio? A John: Asset level strategy remains one of the four key pillars of our strategy to growth, so we will continue to actively and strategically manage our existing portfolio to improve its returns alongside the Growth and Value Up Plan. For instance, we have continued to execute strategic leases at our portfolio to optimise the return on our capital. This strategy has enabled us to secure new leases at Phipps, Exchange, Figueroa and Centerpointe at tenant improvement (TI) allowances that are significantly below market. In fact, for leases signed with TIs in FY2025, their TI allowances averaged approximately US$43 psf, around 30% below prevailing market levels, underscoring the effectiveness of our leasing approach. However, structural challenges remain. Some office submarkets still face challenges such as high tenant concessions, while opportunities to reposition other assets can be capital intensive and complex. We have evaluated options such as converting Diablo into a data centre or industrial asset, as well as converting office properties to residential use. We continue to explore such opportunities to convert and repurpose our assets. The Growth and Value Up Plan is necessary to pave the way for us to exit the MRA and to provide a future runway for growth. The Plan, together with the MRA Concessions, gives us more time and flexibility to dispose of assets to plug the gap in the Minimum Sale Target as well as to acquire higher yielding real estate with lower Capex needs to create long-term value for Unitholders. A diversified portfolio with stronger yields will also improve our refinancing prospects. A plan comprising solely of disposing assets would not have been viable without growth and would have resulted in unintended liquidation for MUST. The Growth and Value Up Plan also helps MUST to improve its cashflows and credit profile as it acquires properties at lower leverage ratios. This will enable us to resume sustainable cash distributions to Unitholders, underpinned by a more resilient portfolio and cash position. Q3 What is your capital management strategy in view of the upcoming debt maturities and the uncertain interest rate environment in 2026? A Mushtaque: In 2025, we repaid approximately US$186 million of debts, leaving approximately US$35.6 million of loans maturing in July 2026, with the remaining loans maturing between 2027 and 2029. We expect to fully repay this outstanding amount with divestment proceeds by 30 June 2026. Any further divestments under the Disposition Mandate will provide additional flexibility to further The Growth and Value Up Plan is necessary to pave the way for us to exit the MRA and to provide a future runway for growth. The Plan, together with the MRA Concessions, gives us more time and flexibility to dispose of assets to plug the gap in the Minimum Sale Target as well as to acquire higher yielding real estate with lower Capex needs to create long-term value for Unitholders. / 10 / EXPANDING HORIZONS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTM2MDQ5