SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Suntec Reit)'s distribution per unit (DPU) fell 21.9 per cent to 1.848 cents for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from 2.365 cents a year ago.

This came as distributable income from operations dropped 12.6 per cent year on year to $52.2 million, from $59.7 million.

This was due to the absence of contribution from Suntec Singapore and one-off compensation received at Marina Bay Financial Centre properties in Q3, mitigated by the better performance and contributions from the Australia office portfolio, the stronger performance of One Raffles Quay and lower financing costs, the Reit manager said in a bourse filing on Thursday (Oct 22).

Gross revenue was down 13.4 per cent to $79.6 million for the quarter, from $91.9 million a year ago. Meanwhile, net property income fell 19 per cent on the year to $47.3 million for the quarter, from $58.4 million.

The distribution will be paid out on Nov 25, after the record date on Oct 30.

Chong Kee Hiong, chief executive of the Reit's manager, said there are "encouraging" signs of recovery in the Reit's retail business in Q3 2020 as tenant sales recovery at Suntec City Mall has been stronger than improvement in footfall.

"As a result, there will be a full distribution of the Q3 distributable income," he said.

Units of Suntec Reit closed up $0.01 or 0.7 per cent to $1.46 on Wednesday.