Same-store net operating income growth

Growth in net operating income from properties owned throughout both periods, stripping out acquisitions and developments.

A portfolio going from ₹442 crore to ₹475 crore on a like-for-like basis grew 7.5%.

It separates the two ways a property company grows. Buying more buildings raises reported income and consumes capital; raising rents and occupancy on existing buildings raises income and consumes almost nothing.

Only the second is worth a premium multiple.

Buying buildings is not the same as filling them.

The growth in the like-for-like figure also decomposes into rent and occupancy, and the two carry different information. Rent growth on renewal is contractual in part, since Indian commercial leases typically carry scheduled escalations, so a portfolio can post steady growth without any improvement in the market. Occupancy growth is the market signal, and it turns first. A portfolio whose occupancy has been flat for two years while distributions grew on escalations has been living on its lease terms, and those terms come up for renewal.