CLCT posts 35.1% rise in 2HFY2021 DPU to 4.50 cents from contributions on new acquisitions

Based on CLCT’s closing price of $1.14 on Jan 28, the distribution yield for FY2021 was 7.7%.

Distributable amount to unitholders for the 2HFY2021 grew 67.4% y-o-y to $71.4 million.

2HFY2021 gross revenue surged 84.5% y-o-y to $201.1 million due to the new contribution from CLCT’s newly acquired logistics and business park portfolios, which comprises five business parks and four logistics parks including Ascendas Xinsu, Ascendas Innovation Towers and Kunshan Bacheng and Wuhan Yangluo.

The higher gross revenue was also attributable to the consolidation of the 100% stake in Rock Square, as well as full contribution from CapitaMall Nuohemule, which officially opened in December 2020.

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Property expenses for the 2HFY2021 increased by 81.6% y-o-y to $71.0 million due to the inclusion of expenses of the five business parks, four logistics parks and 100% stake in Rock Square.

Accordingly, net property income (NPI) for the period climbed by 86.1% y-o-y to $130.1 million.

As at Dec 31, 2021, CLCT’s portfolio occupancy stood at 96.3%, up by 2.2 percentage points y-o-y, and down 0.4 percentage points on a q-o-q basis.

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CLCT’s weighted average lease expiry (WALE) as at end-December stood at 2.4 years by gross rental income (GRI) and 3.8 years by net lettable area (NLA).

Cash and cash equivalents as at end-December stood at $288.9 million.

“Although China’s growth moderated in the last quarter of 2021, its full-year GDP still exceeded analysts’ expectations to expand by 8.1% while retail sales gained by 12.5%. With the Chinese government rolling out fiscal and monetary policies to support the country’s economic growth, we remain confident of China’s long-term prospects,” says Soh Kim Soon, chairman of the manager.

He adds that the trust has been “adding new economy assets and reconstituting CLCT’s portfolio in line with China’s focus on domestic consumption and innovation-driven growth, enhancing the overall quality of its portfolio”, in which the “transformed” trust is now “better-positioned” to capture opportunities to in China’s future economy.

“Continuing the positive momentum of the last few years, we further strengthened CLCT’s portfolio in 2021 through accretive acquisitions and divestment of non-core assets. During the year, in addition to entering China’s promising logistics market with the purchase of four prime properties for RMB1,683.4 million ($351.4 million), we sold two mature retail assets to unlock RMB918 million ($191.6 million) of capital for redeployment into higher-yielding opportunities,” shares Tan Tze Wooi, CEO of the manager.

“With assets under management of $4.9 billion and a market capitalisation of about $2 billion, CLCT is today the largest China-focused Singapore REIT (S-REIT) with a quality real estate portfolio in multiple asset classes located across prominent first- and second-tier cities,” he adds.

Looking ahead, Tan also revealed that the ongoing asset enhancement initiative (AEI) for CapitaMall Wangjing to optimise about 14,000 sqm of space, is targeted to complete in the 3QFY2022. Upon its completion, the mall is expected to yield more than twice the original rental income.

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CLCT’s business park property Ascendas-Xinsu Portfolio will welcome the opening of Bridge+, CapitaLand’s flexible workspace and community platform, after reconfiguring some of its existing office units and a part of the lobby to increase the leasable area in 2QFY2022.

“The addition of Bridge+ will enhance the property’s overall attractiveness through the expansion of core-flex workspace solutions,” says Tan.

Unitholders will receive their distributions on March 7.

Units in CLCT closed 2 cents lower or 1.72% down at $1.14 on Jan 28.

Photo: CLCT