CMMT 3Q 2016 distribution per unit rises 2.4% year-on-year
Distribution per unit of 2.13 sen for 3Q 2016
Kuala Lumpur, 20 October 2016 – CapitaLand Malaysia Mall REIT Management Sdn. Bhd. (CMRM), the manager of CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust (CMMT), is pleased to announce that CMMT achieved a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.13 sen for the period from 1 July to 30 September 2016 (3Q 2016), 2.4% higher than the DPU of 2.08 sen for the corresponding period last year (3Q 2015). The annualised DPU of 8.47 sen1 for 3Q 2016 represents an increase of 2.7% over the same period last year and translates to an annualised distribution yield of 5.5% based on CMMT’s closing price of RM1.54 per unit on 19 October 2016.
As CMMT’s DPU is paid out on a half yearly basis,
For 3Q 2016, CMMT achieved a distributable income of RM43.3 million, 3.8% higher than the RM41.7 million for 3Q 2015. This was underpinned by net property income of RM61.4 million, which grew 2.8% from RM59.8 million for 3Q 2015. This increase was mainly driven by full quarter contribution from Tropicana City Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower that was acquired on 10 July 2015, as well as higher contributions from Gurney Plaza and East Coast Mall.
Mr David Wong, Chairman of CMRM, said: “Malaysia’s economy grew 4.0%2 during the second quarter of the year, underpinned by stronger expansion in domestic demand and private sector spending, and is expected to remain on a steady growth path for the rest of the year. Retail sales for that period grew 7.5% 3, having rebounded from the severe decline following the implementation of the Goods & Services Tax last year. The projected retail sales growth rate for the year remains at 3.5%
Ms Low Peck Chen, CEO of CMRM, said: “For the quarter under review, four of our five properties recorded an improvement in net property income, with Gurney Plaza achieving a double-digit growth of 10.8%. Although Sungei Wang Plaza’s net property income is temporarily affected by the ongoing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) works, the mall will stand to benefit from the increased flow of shopper traffic when the MRT station is expected to become operational in the second half of 2017.
“We are committed to continually enhance the shopping experience and ensure our malls remain relevant and attractive to shoppers by focusing on optimising the retail mix, introducing new-to-market brands and concepts that appeal to shoppers, as well as reinventing and upgrading our malls. An initiative in this direction is the incubation space launched in Sungei Wang Plaza this year, which currently houses 10 new toy and hobby retailers offering merchandise related to Japanese anime, character figurines and limited edition toys. This cluster provides these retailers, which have been operating successful online businesses, an avenue to enhance their brand profiles through setting up physical stores and allows Sungei Wang Plaza to widen its appeal by diversifying its offerings.
“This month, we also extended CAPITASTAR to another three malls – Tropicana City Mall, The Mines and East Coast Mall – to further enhance our shopper engagement. CAPITASTAR is CapitaLand’s multi-mall, multi-store card-less rewards programme that was first made available in Gurney Plaza in Penang last October and has been well-received by shoppers since."
Summary of CMMT’s results
1 2016 annualised DPU is based on 366 days.
2 Source: Bank Negara Malaysia.
3 Source: Retail Group Malaysia Industry Report, August 2016.
4 Based on closing price of RM1.54 per unit on 19 October 2016.
5 Based on closing price of RM1.40 per unit on 15 October 2015.