SINGAPORE - Capitaland Retail China Trust (CRCT) reported on Thursday (Feb 4) a 4.4 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 2.59 Singapore cents for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 from 2.48 cents for the year-ago quarter.

Gross revenue increased 6.7 per cent to S$56.2 million while net property income rose 5.2 per cent to S$35.3 million.

The rental growth came mainly from CapitaMall Qibao and CapitaMall Saihan. This increase was partially offset by lower revenue from CapitaMall Wuhu due to lower occupancy rate as the mall is undergoing tenancy adjustments and a one-off forfeiture of security deposits at CapitaMall Xizhimen.

The bottomline in Singapore dollar terms was stronger than in yuan terms due to the appreciation of the Chinese currency against the Singapore unit during the quarter.

Said Mr Tony Tan, CEO of the trust's manager: "For FY 2015, CRCT's gross revenue crossed the RMB1.0 billion mark for the first time. Portfolio occupancy remained high at 95.1 per cent as at Dec 31, 2015, while rental reversion for the full year was 8.1 per cent. Annual tenants' sales increased 11.6 per cent and shopper traffic rose 1.8 per cent year-on-year."

"We will continue to strengthen our malls' tenant mix and uplift the shopping experience through continual asset enhancement initiatives to remain relevant and attractive to the communities we serve," he said.

DPU for the full-year was up 7.9 per cent to 10.60 cents from 9.82 cents a year ago.

Based on CRCT's closing price of S$1.460 on Feb 3, the distribution yield for FY 2015 was 7.3 per cent.

Unitholders can expect to receive their DPU of 2.59 cents for the fourth quarter along with their DPU of 2.64 cents for the third quarter, totalling 5.23 cents, on March 30. The book closure date is 16 February 2016.