CapitaLand Mall Trust reports 6.7% drop in Q3 DPU

CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) has announced a 6.7 per cent drop in distribution per unit to 2.78 cents for the third quarter, down from 2.98 cents a year earlier.

Distributable income to unit holders for the three months ended Sept 30 slid 4.7 per cent to $98.4 million. This included the release of $8 million taxable income retained in the first quarter of last year, said CMT's manager yesterday.

It added that excluding this release, distributable income would have been 3.3 per cent higher year on year.

Net property income grew 5.5 per cent to $119.5 million, while gross revenue climbed 4.9 per cent to $169.7 million, thanks largely to a $14.5 million contribution from Bedok Mall which was acquired on Oct 1 last year.

It was also helped by higher rental for IMM Building, Tampines Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza, and higher occupancy at Clarke Quay - though partially offset by lower gross revenue from Funan, which ceased operations for redevelopment, and the absence of recurring income from Rivervale Mall after it was divested last December.

Property operating expenses rose 3.7 per cent to $50.2 million.

  • AT A GLANCE

  • GROSS REVENUE:
    $169.7 million (+4.9%)

  • NET PROPERTY INCOME:
    $119.5 million (+5.5%)

  • DISTRIBUTABLE INCOME:
    $98.4 million (-4.7%)

  • DISTRIBUTION PER UNIT:
    2.78 cents (-6.7%)

Earnings per unit during the quarter came in at 2.94 cents, slightly higher than 2.93 cents previously, while net asset value per unit as at Sept 30 was flat at $1.89, compared with Dec 31 last year.

CMT's portfolio comprises 16 shopping malls in Singapore's suburban areas and downtown core.

Mr Wilson Tan, chief executive of the trust's manager, said: "Despite uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment and challenging retail conditions in Singapore, CMT's portfolio occupancy rate as at Sept 30 remained high at 98.6 per cent. For the first nine months of this year, CMT also registered year-on-year growth of 2.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent in shopper traffic and tenants' sales per square foot respectively."

CMT units closed one cent or 0.5 per cent lower at $2.11 yesterday, before the results were announced.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 22, 2016, with the headline CapitaLand Mall Trust reports 6.7% drop in Q3 DPU. Subscribe