Effect of profitability ratios of real estate investment trusts on stock market performance

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is important in terms of enabling individuals who want to invest in real estate with their limited savings to benefit from the resulting increase in value by directing the funds collected through public offering to the real estate sector. In this way, REITs allow investors to become partners in real estates that they cannot act alone. Especially in the developing countries, real estate investments seem to be more attractive to investors as they are less risky than other investment instruments and provide investors with higher returns in the long run. In addition, it is important for investors how and in what way the profitability ratios of REITs will affect their stock market performance. The dynamism observed in the real estate sector in Turkey in recent years, the investors’ desire to earn income by investing in REITs as well as their tendency to real estate projects require close monitoring of the performances of companies operating in this sector. From this point of view, the relationship between the profitability ratios of REITs traded in Borsa Istanbul and the market value/book value (MV/BV), which is the stock market performance indicator, was analyzed with the help of panel regression analysis. As a result of the analysis, profit before tax/equity ratio and cumulative profitability ratio are not significantly related on the MV/BV variable. On the other hand, operating profit/net sales ratio, operating income/asset ratio, net profit/equity ratio and net income/asset total ratio are positively and significantly correlated on the MV/BV variable.