OUE Real Estate Investment Trust's (SGX:TS0U) sale of its Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel will temporarily boost its financial flexibility, S&P Global Ratings said in a recent release.

The REIT's debt-to-EBITDA ratio will improve to 9.5x to 9.7x from 2026 to 2027, compared with S&P's estimate of 10.8x to 10.9x before the divestment.

S&P also expects the ratio of gross borrowings to total deposited property value to drop to about 36.6% from 41.5%, with the REIT looking to retain the ratio at about 40%.

The REIT will further manage its portfolio over the next 12 to 18 months, S&P said.

The downscaling has not impacted the REIT's sound portfolio quality, especially since the hotel could need notable maintenance capex and the hospitality segment shows greater volatility than the office segment, S&P said.