ingapore's Mapletree Industrial surges on debut

* Shares surge 29 pct on market debut

* Analysts say company offers attractive yields

By Eveline Danubrata and Charmian Kok

SINGAPORE, Oct 21 - Mapletree Industrial Trust <MAPI.SI> made a sparkling debut on Thursday, surging as much as 29 percent above its IPO price as investors were drawn by its high dividend yield amid rock-bottom interest rates.

Units of Mapletree Industrial, which owns factories and other industrial properties in Singapore, opened at S$1.15 a unit against an IPO price of S$0.93. It rose as high as S$1.20 a unit.

Mapletree's S$940 milllion IPO was among a string of successful public offerings of property assets in Asia recently, which also included the $3 billion listing of Singapore wealth fund GIC's logistics unit GLP <GLPL.SI>.

At 0626 GMT, Mapletree shares were trading at S$1.17 with a volume of 197.7 million shares.

"Mapletree's yield is pretty attractive, that's one of the main reasons why the response to this IPO has been so good. In a low interest rate environment, investors are looking to pick up higher yield securities like REITs," said Carey Wong, an investment analyst at OCBC Investment Research.

"Another positive factor is that with its parentage , people would regard it as a higher quality investment," he said.

Mapletree Industrial said it expects to see a distribution yield of about 7.6 percent for the 12 months ended March 2011.

Interest rates are extremely low in Singapore. The 12-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate <SISGD1YD=> is trading around 0.7 percent.

The trust is managed by Mapletree Investments, a real estate company owned by Singapore state investor Temasek. Mapletree Investments also manages Mapletree Logistics Trust <MAPL.SI> and Lippo-Mapletree Indonesia Retail Trust <LMRT.SI>.

Part of the proceeds will be used to pay its existing debt and the purchase consideration for Mapletree Singapore Industrial Trust, the firm said.