CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT) has reported a net property income (NPI) of RMB970.8 million ($188.5 million) for the 9MFY2022 ended Sept 30, 7.5% higher y-o-y.
The higher NPI comes on the back of the 7.0% y-o-y growth in 9MFY2022 gross revenue of RMB1.43 billion.
According to the REIT manager, the uplift in its portfolio was attributable to the addition of new economy assets.
In its retail portfolio, the REIT achieved positive rental reversion of 4.9%, the first since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 1HFY2020. This was boosted by the completion of the asset enhancement initiative (AEI) at CapitaMall Wangjing.
In the 3QFY2022, traffic improved by 37.5% q-o-q while sales grew by 33.7% q-o-q for CLCT’s retail portfolio. The improvements were observed after the lockdowns in the 1HFY2022, says the REIT manager.
However, shopper traffic fell 17.2% y-o-y for the 9MFY2022 due to the city-wide and community lockdowns in 2022. Similarly, tenant sales fell by 8.2% y-o-y in the 9MFY2022 for the same reasons.
See also: Trump wins Republican nomination, setting up rematch with Biden
As at Sept 30, CLCT’s retail portfolio reported a committed occupancy of 96.7%.
Meanwhile, CLCT’s new economy portfolio reported a positive rental reversion of 5.6%, with full contributions from its business parks and logistics parks.
According to the REIT manager, the positive reversion was driven by strong performance from sectors including engineering, electronics, information and communications technology (ICT) and biomedical science. The REIT’s new economy portfolio also registered broad-based higher rent per sqm in the 3QFY2022.
As at Sept 30, CLCT’s business park reported an occupancy rate of 94.3% while its logistics park reported an occupancy rate of 96.6%.
Overall, CLCT’s portfolio weighted average lease expiry (WALE) stood at 2.0 years by gross rental income (GRI) and 2.2 years by net lettable area (NLA).
As at Sept 30, the REIT’s gearing stood at 39.3%, 0.7 percentage points higher q-o-q. Its interest coverage stood at 4.4x, down from the 4.7x as at June 30.
Units in CLCT closed 0.5 cent lower or 0.51% down at 98 cents on Oct 28.
