Lower revenue from Suntec Singapore and a fall in office rentals dented retail and commercial owner Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust's (Suntec Reit) earnings for its fourth quarter.

Still, the distribution per unit (DPU) for the fourth quarter rose 0.31 per cent to 2.604 cents from 2.596 cents in the previous corresponding period, the group said yesterday.

The quarter's DPU included a capital distribution of $10 million or 0.376 cent per unit. That came as the quarter's income available for distribution increased 2.1 per cent to $59.3 million.

For the three months ended Dec 31, gross revenue dipped 1.8 per cent to $87.3 million.

The decrease was attributed to lower revenue from Suntec Singapore and a decrease in office revenue, partially offset by higher retail revenue from Suntec City mall, the Reit manager said.

The fall in office revenue was mainly from Suntec City Office as some of the leases committed in the fourth quarter will commence only this year, it added.

Net property income shrank 2.2 per cent to $59.4 million from the preceding year.

This was partly a result of higher legal and professional fees.

The overall committed occupancy for the office and retail portfolios stood at 99.2 per cent and 98.8 per cent respectively as of Dec 31.

Suntec Reit fully owns the Suntec City mall and one-third of One Raffles Quay.