SINGAPORE - CapitaRetail China Trust (CRCT), the China mall owner and landlord listed in Singapore, will pay unitholders a distribution per unit of 2.40 cents for the first quarter of this year.

This is a 3.9 per cent increase over a year ago, the real estate investment trust's manager CapitaRetail China Trust Management (CRCTM) said.

The trust's distributable income for the first three months climbed 13.2 per cent from the year before to $19.6 million.

Gross revenue rose 22.4 per cent to $48.1 million in the period, mainly due to contributions from the newly-acquired CapitaMall Grand Canyon as well as faster rental growth at other malls, CRCTM said.

CRCT's net property income increased 25 per cent to $32.3 million, supported by a "healthy" rental reversion of 23 per cent, said CRCTM chief executive Tony Tan. He said tenants' sales at CRCT's multi-tenanted malls rose 13.9 per cent in the first quarter over last year, while shopper traffic grew 7.3 per cent.