CapitaLand Mall Trust kept distribution per unit (DPU) stable for the fourth quarter despite lower revenue and net property income.
DPU for the three months to Dec 31 was 2.88 cents, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. It will be paid on Feb 28, the trust manager said yesterday.
Distributable income for the quarter grew 0.2 per cent to $102.1 million in spite of decreases in both revenue and net property income.
Gross revenue fell 6.1 per cent to $169.3 million while net property income dropped 7.6 per cent to $116.2 million. The company attributed the lower revenue mainly to the closure of Funan DigitaLife Mall for redevelopment on July 1.
Gross revenue for the full year came in at $689.7 million, 3.1 per cent higher than a year earlier.
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AT A GLANCE
GROSS REVENUE: $169.3 million (-6.1%)
NET PROPERTY INCOME: $116.2 million (-7.6%)
DISTRIBUTABLE INCOME: $102.1 million (+0.2%)
DISTRIBUTION PER UNIT: 2.88 cents ( unchanged)
However rental reversions - the change in current rates compared with previous rental rates inked - were anaemic last year.
Rental reversion rates were up by 1 per cent.
The trust ended 2015 with rental reversions up 3.6 per cent, compared with the 6 per cent level maintained from 2010 to 2014.
Mr Wilson Tan, chief executive of the trust manager, told a briefing yesterday that the slowdown in rental reversions was partly due to new tenant mixes at some malls, such as Clarke Quay and JCube.
He added that the camera shops at Funan DigitaLife Mall had been relocated to The Atrium@Orchard.
However, he acknowledged that rental reversions are under pressure, and will continue to be in the first half of this year.
Overall, shopper traffic at the trust's malls increased by 2.3 per cent compared with a year earlier, while sales per square foot per month at outlets rose by 0.9 per cent. Occupancy across the mall portfolio was at 98.5 per cent as at Dec 31, higher than the 97.6 per cent at the same point in 2015.
Mr Tan also addressed the competition from e-commerce firms such as Amazon, and new malls like the Hillion in Bukit Panjang.
"We are very excited by Amazon. This is an opportune time for us to learn from them," he said.
He added that malls like Hillion would have some impact on the trust's Bukit Panjang Plaza, but said the company has carried out works such as repositioning tenants and expanding childcare facilities. "We cannot lose sleep on it, it's something we are prepared for," he said.
