SINGAPORE - The completion of part of Suntec City's upgrading gave a boost to distributions at Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) in the second quarter.

The reit owns the Suntec City shopping mall and a 60.8 per cent stake in the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Its distribution per unit (DPU) for the three months to June 30 was 2.266 cents, 0.8 per cent higher than in the preceding year.

Net property income rocketed 64.9 per cent to $46.1 million and income available for distribution climbed 11.3 per cent to $56.6 million for the period.

Mr Yeo See Kiat, chief executive of the reit manager, said in a statement on Tuesday that the jump in income came "despite the closure of a substantial part of Suntec City mall" for refurbishment works.

The increase was mainly due to the completion of the first part of Suntec City's upgrading, he said. This portion includes the convention centre and Suntec City Tower 5.

The second part of Suntec City that got upgraded, which includes Towers 3 and 4, opened on June 1 this year.

Mr Yeo said the reit had achieved 97.6 per cent committed occupancy for the first and second parts.

He said it would now focus on marketing Towers 1 and 2 and on "proactive lease management".

Suntec Reit rose two cents to close at $1.855 on Tuesday.