SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) saw a 9.6 per cent rise in its distribution per unit (DPU) for the third quarter ended Sept 30 to 2.98 cents from 2.72 cents for the same period last year, it said on Thursday (Oct 22).

CMT registered lower gross revenue and net property income of 1.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent year-on-year respectively, mainly due to lower occupancy rates at Clarke Quay and JCube and ongoing asset enhancement initiatives at IMM Building. But its property operating expenses fell 4.3 per cent year-on-year, mainly due to lower utility expenses, while finance costs for the third quarter were $4.8 million lower than the same period last year.

Said Mr Wilson Tan, CEO of the trust's manager: "We are pleased to report that CMT delivered a steady set of financial results in the third quarter. For the first nine months of 2015, our tenants' sales increased 4.4 per cent and shopper traffic grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year. Portfolio occupancy as at 30 September 2015 remained high at 96.8 per cent, despite ongoing asset enhancement initiatives and reconfiguration works at some of our malls."

Distributable income grew 10.2 per cent to $103.2 million for the quarter compared to $93.7 million for the corresponding period in 2014, on the release of $8 million of taxable income retained in the first quarter of 2015.