CMT’s 4Q 2017 net property income up 2.6% year-on-year
Singapore, 24 January 2018 – CapitaLand Mall Trust Management Limited (CMTML), the manager of CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), announced today that CMT has achieved net property income (NPI) of S$119.3 million for the period 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2017 (4Q 2017), an increase of 2.6% over the S$116.2 million for the same period last year (4Q 2016). Distributable income for 4Q 2017 was S$102.9 million, 0.8% higher than 4Q 2016. Distribution per unit (DPU) for 4Q 2017 was 2.90 cents, 0.7% higher year-on-year.
For the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017 (FY 2017), distributable income was S$395.8 million, 0.4% higher than the same period last year (FY 2016). DPU for FY 2017 was 11.16 cents, 0.3% higher than FY 2016.
Based on CMT’s closing price of S$2.050 per unit on 23 January 2018, the annualised distribution yield for 4Q 2017 was 5.61%. Unitholders can expect to receive their DPU for 4Q 2017 on 28 February 2018. The Books Closure Date is 1 February 2018.
Adj Professor Richard R. Magnus, Chairman of CMTML, said, “CMT has delivered another set of stable results in 2017, despite the challenges facing the retail industry. This points to the underlying strength of our well-located malls, and the management’s continuous focus on enhancing our mall’s offering as well as improving on operational efficiency. While Singapore’s GDP growth forecast in 2018 is expected to be stable, competition in the retail sector will remain intense, with new retail space coming onstream. To stay at the forefront of a dynamic retail landscape, CMT will continue to push the boundaries and explore new ways to future-enable our malls.”
Mr Tony Tan, CEO of CMTML, said, “Our portfolio of malls continued to be popular with retailers, registering a high occupancy of 99.2% as at 31 December 2017. As part of our ongoing effort to enhance the offline and online shopping experience in our malls, we introduced seven click-and-collect lounges under CapitaLand’s partnership with ecommerce player Lazada. They are in Bedok Mall, Bugis+, IMM Building, JCube, Plaza Singapura, Tampines Mall and Westgate.”
“Construction for Funan is progressing well. With less than two years to target opening, Funan has received strong leasing interest for its retail and office components. Global coworking space operator WeWork has signed on as Funan’s first office tenant, taking up 40,000 square feet of space located across two floors of the North Office Block – namely Level 4, which is the prime connector space linking Funan’s two office blocks with its retail and serviced residence components, and Level 5.”
Summary of CMT’s results
|
4Q 2017 |
4Q 2016 |
Variance |
FY 2017 |
FY 2016 |
Variance |
Gross revenue (S$’000) |
172,402 |
169,346 |
1.8% |
682,469 |
689,732 |
(1.1%) |
Net property income (S$’000) |
119,258 |
116,192 |
2.6% |
478,234 |
479,679 |
(0.3%) |
Distributable income to Unitholders (S$’000) |
102,9331
|
102,0692 |
0.8% |
395,8243 |
394,3234 |
0.4% |
Distribution per unit (cents) |
2.90 |
2.88 |
0.7% |
11.16 |
11.13 |
0.3% |
Annualised DPU (cents) |
11.51 |
11.46 |
0.4% |
11.16 |
11.13 |
0.3% |
Annualised distribution yield (Based on closing unit price of S$2.050 on 23 January 2018) |
5.61% |
|
|
5.44% |
|
|
1 In 4Q 2017, CMT had released S$7.6 million of its taxable income available for distribution retained in 1H 2017 to Unitholders. Advanced distribution comprising tax-exempt income of S$4.8 million received from CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) for the period from 1 July 2017 to 6 December 2017 had been retained for general corporate and working capital purposes.
2 In 4Q 2016, CMT had released S$12.0 million of its taxable income available for distribution to Unitholders. S$17.1 million of capital distribution from Infinity Office Trust (IOT) had been retained for general corporate and working capital purposes.
3 For FY 2017, capital distribution and tax-exempt income of S$17.2 million received from CRCT for the period from 1 July 2016 to 6 December 2017 had been retained for general corporate and working capital purposes.
4 For FY 2016, CMT had retained S$12.9 million of capital distribution and tax-exempt income received from CRCT for general corporate and working capital purposes. In addition, S$17.1 million of capital distribution received from IOT had also been retained for general corporate and working capital purposes.
Operational performance
For 4Q 2017, CMT recorded growth of 1.8% and 2.6% in gross revenue and NPI respectively year-on-year. The increase was mainly due to higher occupancy for Bugis Junction and The Atrium@Orchard, partially offset by lower gross revenue from Bedok Mall due to lower rental rates achieved for new and renewed leases and lower occupancy.
For FY 2017, CMT recorded S$682.4 million in gross revenue, 1.1% lower year-on-year. The lower amount year-on-year was mainly due to Funan as the mall ceased its operations for redevelopment from 1 July 2016, lower rental rates achieved for new and renewed leases, as well as lower occupancy for Bedok Mall. This was partially offset by higher rental achieved from IMM Building, JCube and Clarke Quay.
Proactive capital management
As at 31 December 2017, CMT’s average cost of debt and aggregate leverage were 3.2% and 34.2% respectively.