SINGAPORE (Apr 30): The manager of CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) has reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.85 cent for 1QFY2020 ended March, some 70.5% lower than PDU of 2.88 cents last year.
This comes as the group grapples with an increasingly difficult operating environment on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CEO of CMT’s manager Tony Tan says that the group has retained 69%, or $69.6 million, of its taxable income for the quarter to maintain its financial capacity and flexibility.
As a result, the group’s income distributable to unitholders tumbled 70.3% to $31.6 million from $106.3 million last year.
Gross revenue for the quarter inched up 6% to $204.3 million from $192.7 million a year ago. This was mainly attributable to the commencement of retail and office components at Funan in June 2019, but was partially offset by the amortisation of rental rebates granted to tenants affected by COVID-19.
Property operating expenses increased 6.4% year-on-year to $56 million due to higher property operating expenses incurred by Funan upon the commencement of operations.
Correspondingly, CMT recorded net property income (NPI) of $148.3 million, a 5.9% increase from $140 million a year ago.
As at end-March, earnings per share for the group came in at 3.38 cents, marginally higher than 3.37 cents in 1QFY2019.
At the end of the quarter, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $131.3 million.
Looking ahead, CMT says that Singapore’s circuit breaker measures will inevitably have a material short-term impact on retail footfall and sales across its properties, and is expecting its downtown malls to be impacted more severely than suburban malls.
In addition, the ongoing measures have led to only 25% of the group’s portfolio tenants continuing operations in shopping malls.
Although Tan says CMT is in a strong financial position with a healthy aggregate leverage
of 33.3% and 100% unencumbered assets, the group is bracing itself for disruptions from the pandemic to continue for a prolonged period of time.
“To maintain our financial resilience, we are suspending all non-essential operating and capital expenditure,” says Tan.
“We are also deferring all asset enhancement and development initiatives, except for the ongoing upgrading works at Lot One Shoppers’ Mall,” he adds.
Units in CapitaLand Mall Trust closed seven cents higher, or 3.9% up, at $1.89 on Thursday prior to the results announcement.
