CMMT’s 2Q 2015 net property income rises 2.4% year-on-year
Portfolio set to further strengthen with the addition of Tropicana City Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower in July
Kuala Lumpur, 16 July 2015 – CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management Sdn. Bhd. (“CMRM”), the manager of CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (“CMMT”), is pleased to announce that CMMT achieved a net property income (“NPI”) of RM52.4 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2015 (“2Q 2015”), 2.4% higher than the RM51.2 million for the same period last year (“2Q 2014”). This was on the back of the full quarter contribution from East Coast Mall which completed its two-year asset enhancement programme at end-2014, as well as higher rental reversions from many new and renewed leases.
CMMT’s distribution per unit (“DPU”) for 2Q 2015 was 2.18 sen, bringing the total DPU for the period from 1 January to 30 June (“1H 2015”) to 4.43 sen per unit. The annualised DPU of 8.93 sen for 1H 2015 translates to an annualised distribution yield of 6.6% based on CMMT’s closing price of RM1.35 per unit on 15 July 2015. The total distribution to be paid on 7 August 2015 will comprise of DPU of 4.43 sen for 1H 2015 as well as an advance DPU of 0.18 sen for the period from 1 July to 8 July 20151 following the placement of new CMMT units, thereby totalling 4.61 sen.
Mr David Wong Chin Huat, Chairman of CMRM, said: “The Malaysian economy grew 5.6% in the first quarter of 20152. However, there was a temporary negative impact in the second quarter as consumers adjusted to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in April. We expect retail sales to pick up in the last quarter of the year. As CMMT malls are largely focused on day-to-day necessity shopping, they have proven resilient through economic cycles in the past and should continue to do so.”
Ms Low Peck Chen, CEO of CMRM, said: “For the quarter under review, East Coast Mall achieved stellar NPI growth of 27.9% following the completion of its two-year asset enhancement programme while Gurney Plaza and The Mines continued their steady performances, registering NPI growth of 7.2% and 9.2% respectively. As part of our ongoing improvements of our malls, we have installed digital directories and completed landscape improvement works including an amphitheatre at Gurney Plaza. At Sungei Wang Plaza, we introduced a chic and eclectic fashion corner on the sixth floor and it also houses Snips College of Creative Arts. To further enhance the shopping experience and help drive shopper traffic, we will be introducing CAPITASTAR, a shopper loyalty programme, in the third quarter. This multi-mall, multi-store cardless reward programme will start off with Gurney Plaza. We also have an initiative across all our malls to excite and reward our shoppers with exciting prizes coming up soon.”
“On 10 July 2015, we completed the acquisition of Tropicana City Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower. We are confident that the new addition of this quality asset that will further strengthen the CMMT portfolio and provide greater income diversification. With our proven track record in proactive asset enhancement and retail management, we are confident that we can further maximise the potential of the asset and extract value for our unitholders.”
Summary of CMMT’s results
Periods: 1 April to 30 June (“2Q”) and 1 January to 30 June (“1H”)
-insert table here-
1Period before the placement of new CMMT units for the acquisition of Tropicana City Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower.
2Source: Bank Negara Malaysia, 15 May 2015.
3Based on closing price of RM1.35 per unit on 15 July 2015.
4Based on closing price of RM1.49 per unit on 16 July 2014.