OUE Commercial Reit yesterday reported a fourth-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) that was 20.4 per cent higher than forecast.

DPU for the three months to Dec 31 fell 5.6 per cent to 1.36 cents compared with the same period a year earlier.

However, when DPU of the fourth quarter of 2014 is restated to include 393.3 million new units issued on Aug 4 last year, following a rights issue, the latest DPU surged 37.4 per cent.

Revenue climbed 106.2 per cent to $40.3 million owing to a better operating performance across the portfolio, OUE Commercial Reit said in a statement. Revenue was augmented by lower utilities costs incurred by OUE Bayfront and One Raffles Place, it added.

Total distributable income for the three months came in at $17.6 million, up 40.1 per cent.

Ms Tan Shu Lin, chief executive of OUE Commercial Reit Management, said: "As a testament to the prime positioning of our properties, OUE Commercial Reit continued to achieve committed rents which are higher than expiring rents.

"Office rental reversions in the fourth quarter of 2015 were positive across the portfolio."

OUE Commercial Reit noted that core central business district (CBD) office occupancy in Singapore at Dec 31 was 95.1 per cent, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.

CBD Grade A office rents also declined by 4.6 per cent from the third quarter to $10.40 per square foot per month according to CBRE, OUE Commercial Reit said. This was the second consecutive quarter of decline, OUE Commercial Reit noted.

Office demand was impacted by a downturn in the energy and commodities sector and a reduction in demand from the financial services sector, it said.

Current low vacancy is expected to continue in the near term, and completion of new office developments from the second half of this year is expected to impact vacancy and rents, it added.