REITs系列专题报告：“数据中心REIT”有何不同？

1. Report Industry Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly mention the industry investment rating. 2. Core Views of the Report - C - REITs have witnessed continuous expansion in the primary market and leading performance in the secondary market. As of June 16, 2025, 66 C - REITs have been listed, with a cumulative market value exceeding 200 billion yuan. The CSI REITs Total Return Index had a cumulative increase of 14.69% since the beginning of 2025 [4][10]. - Data center REITs, as new infrastructure assets, differ from traditional property - type REITs in terms of operation mode, income stability, and valuation logic. They may have a large premium space in the initial listing stage [3][20][34]. - The primary issuance of C - REITs has seen a booming market, and the secondary - market holdings are mainly by securities firm proprietary trading and insurance funds. Attention should be paid to the marginal increase brought by FOF funds [36][43]. 3. Summary by Relevant Catalogs 3.1 Current Performance of C - REITs 3.1.1 Continuous Expansion in the Primary Market and Leading Performance in the Secondary Market - Since the listing of the first batch of 9 public REITs in June 2021, relevant policies have been introduced. In 2024, the issuance entered a new stage of normalization. As of June 16, 2025, 66 C - REITs have been listed, with a cumulative issuance scale of 180.4 billion yuan (including expansion) and a cumulative market value exceeding 200 billion yuan. In 2024, 29 C - REITs were issued, with a scale of 65.6 billion yuan. The CSI REITs Total Return Index had a cumulative increase of 14.69% since the beginning of 2025 and 31.57% since the beginning of 2024 [9][10]. - The underlying asset types of listed C - REITs cover nine major categories. In 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission proposed to support the issuance of REITs in new infrastructure fields, and on June 18, 2025, the first two data center REITs were approved [11]. 3.1.2 High Payout Ratio for Concession - type REITs and Focus on Residual Value for Property - type REITs - Listed C - REITs can be divided into property - type and concession - type. Property - type REITs have ownership of underlying assets, with income from rent and asset disposal. Concession - type REITs mainly rely on operating income during the product life cycle [14]. - The cash - flow structure of property - type and concession - type REITs differs. Generally, property - type REITs have a lower payout ratio during the product life cycle, and more cash - flow is concentrated at the end of the product life. Concession - type REITs may face the risk of their net asset value approaching zero over time [15]. 3.2 Differences of Data Center REITs - On June 18, 2025, the first two data center REITs, "Southern Wanguo Data Center REIT" and "Southern Runze Technology Data Center REIT", were approved. They are listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges respectively, with Southern Fund as the fund manager [17]. 3.2.1 Operation Mode - Data centers are technology - intensive assets, highly dependent on professional operation and maintenance capabilities and continuous technological iteration. The industry chain consists of upstream infrastructure, mid - stream professional operation service providers, and downstream customers. The operation of data center REITs is more professional than traditional property - type REITs [21][24]. - Data centers are highly energy - consuming. Operators need to reduce PUE through technological upgrades and green energy applications. The PUE values of the two approved data center REITs in 2024 met the policy requirements, and they are expected to carry out liquid - cooling transformation in the future [25][26]. 3.2.2 Income Stability - Data center assets may have more stable income than traditional property - type REITs due to high customer concentration, long lease terms, high customer stickiness, high signing rates, and high rack - up rates. The signing rate and rack - up rate/charging rate are key operating indicators [26]. - Data center assets have a "large - order, few - customer" business model. Their customers are mainly large - scale enterprises, and the long - term and high - stickiness lease agreements ensure stable income. The signing rates of the two approved data center REITs are 100%, and the average rack - up rate/charging rate in Q1 2025 exceeded 95% [27][28][29]. 3.2.3 Valuation Logic - REITs are generally valued using the income approach. Although data center REITs and traditional property - type REITs both use this method, there are significant differences in cash - flow structure and discount rate [32][33]. - The residual value of data center REITs is relatively low, and they require a higher discount rate and should have a higher distribution rate than traditional property - type REITs [33]. 3.3 Who is Buying C - REITs? 3.3.1 Booming Primary Issuance - The issuance of C - REITs includes strategic placement, offline inquiry and pricing, offline placement, and public investor subscription. Strategic investors mainly include original equity holders and their affiliates, and their placement ratio is generally above 70%. Offline investors include various professional institutional investors, and the public investor subscription ratio is generally less than 10% [36][37][38]. - Since the beginning of 2025, the 7 newly - listed C - REITs have received high market enthusiasm. The average subscription ratios of offline and public investors have reached record lows since the beginning of 2024 [42]. 3.3.2 Secondary - Market Holdings Dominated by Securities Firm Proprietary Trading and Insurance Funds - As of the end of 2024, among C - REITs' investors, securities firm proprietary trading and insurance funds held the largest shares, accounting for 58.49% of the shares excluding original equity holders and their affiliates [43]. - Among securities firm proprietary trading, the top five in terms of cumulative holdings are Guotai Junan, CITIC Securities, CITIC Construction, CICC, and Orient Securities. Among insurance funds, the top five are China Life Group, Taikang Insurance, New China Life Insurance, Pacific Life Insurance, and China Life Capital [44][46]. 3.4 Investment Analysis Opinion - Data center REITs, as an important part of "new infrastructure", may have a large premium space in the initial listing stage. Investors are advised to actively participate in the offline issuance of the two approved data center REITs to lock in the premium income at the initial listing stage [34][51].