SINGAPORE - Cambridge Industrial Trust is raising its distribution per unit for the second quarter by 0.9 per cent from a year ago to 1.251 cents, its manager said on Thursday.

Distributable income for the industrial property trust rose 3 per cent in the quarter from the year before to $15.7 million, while revenue was flat at $24.6 million.

Net property income, however, dipped 5.6 per cent to $19.7 million in the second quarter, which ended on June 30.

This was due to higher costs such as property manager's fees - which included marketing service commissions for securing new leases and lease renewals for the properties - as well as higher utilities costs, increased legal and professional fees, and a $0.25 million provision for doubtful debts.

For the first half of the year, distribution per unit amounted to 2.502 cents, up 1.1 per cent from the previous year.

Distributable income climbed 3.1 per cent to $31.3 million, but net property income slid 8.4 per cent to $38.6 million and revenue edged down 2.5 per cent to $48.1 million.

The trust has completed two acquisitions totalling $73 million since January and renewed 1.3 million sq ft of leases, or about 16 per cent of its portfolio.

It has also finished asset enhancement initiatives for 3 Pioneer Sector 3 Phase 1 ahead of schedule and has four other ongoing asset enhancement works to be completed over the next few months.

The trust is also planning to focus more on markets outside of Singapore, its manager said.

"As we look forward, we recognise the limitations of the Singapore market and will increase our focus on other markets within the Trust's Pan-Asian mandate," said Mr Philip Levinson, chief executive officer of Cambridge Industrial Trust Management.

"Our initial focus will be on Australia, Japan and Malaysia which mirror Singapore's sovereign risk and transparency characteristics," he added.