The manager of Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.11 cent for 2Q20 ended June, which slumped 81.7% from the 0.60 cent reported a year ago.
James Liew, CEO of the manager, says “The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted widespread impact on the operating environment and the economy in Indonesia. In support of the Indonesian government’s call to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Trust had closed all its malls by 1 April, which affected our 2Q performance”.
Retail malls and spaces in LMIRT’s portfolio closed temporarily on March 27, except for essential services such as supermarkets, which opened at shorter operating hours.
LMIRT’s 2Q20 gross revenue fell 59.9% to $27.4 million from the $68.3 million a year ago.
A 40% discount on service charge was also extended to tenants, and the provision of free parking at some malls during the closure period, let to lower ancillary income.
2Q20 property operating expenses fell 40.1% y-o-y to $14.6 million due to cost-saving measures following the reduction of rental income due to mall closures.
Net property income (NPI) for the quarter fell 70.8% y-o-y to $12.8 million.
Taking this into account, LMIRT says it “contained” the loss to $7.7 million in 2Q20.
The trust has used retained income of some $14.4 million from previous quarters to offset the loss incurred in 2Q20, and pay the distribution to its perpetual security holders in June. A residual amount of $3.1 million will be distributed in 2Q20, slightly less than the $3.2 million distributed in 1Q20.
As at June 30, Liew says LMIRT has an average occupancy of 88.2%, which is higher than the industry average of 80.8%.
He adds that some 92.4% of tenants by net lettable area (NLA) have resumed operations with safety measures in place.
Units in LMIRT closed 0.1 cent lower, or 0.8% down, at 12.4 cents on July 24.
