SINGAPORE - SPH Reit Management, the managers of SPH Reit, has announced a distribution to unitholders of $33.5 million for the first quarter ended Nov 30 last year.

This translates to a distribution per unit of 1.33 cents for the quarter, an increase of 2.3 per cent from the same period a year ago. It will be paid to unitholders on Feb 13.

Gross revenue for the quarter rose 1.8 per cent from the same period a year ago to $50.6 million, while net property income climbed 4.9 per cent to $37.9 million.

These improvements came on the back of higher rental income and "proactive management" of expenses in both Paragon and The Clementi Mall, SPH Reit Management said.

"Both Paragon and The Clementi Mall are fully leased. Paragon continues to achieve consistently robust performance with rental uplift of 12.5 per cent for new or renewed leases in the first quarter."

The Clementi Mall completed its first lease renewal cycle last year with 84.2 per cent of leases, by net lettable area, expiring in 2017.

Ms Susan Leng, the chief executive of SPH Reit Management, said: "We are pleased that SPH Reit has continued to turn in a steady performance, amidst a modest domestic economic outlook and challenging retail environment.

"We are confident that the well-established positioning of both properties, firm partnership with our tenants and philosophy of continual asset enhancement will enable us to be at the forefront of the competitive retail arena and deliver sustainable returns to unitholders."

The tenancies for newly-created net lettable space of about 5,000 square feet at Paragon have been committed and will contribute close to $1 million of rental income annually from financial year 2016 onwards, she added.