The manager of Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.09 cents for 3Q21 ended Sept, a 28.6% increase y-o-y.
Rental revenue and gross revenue for the period grew 16.2% and 7.0% y-o-y to $17.7 million and $30.9 million respectively.
The increase was due to the income from the newly acquired Lippo Mall Puri, which contributed $8.2 million to rental revenue and $10.3 million to gross revenue for the quarter.
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This was partially offset by the loss of income following the temporary closures of LMIRT's assets during the emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) period in July and August.
Affected tenants were granted rental waivers, while essential service tenants were granted rental discounts to account for the shortened mall operating hours and lower shopper traffic.
Additionally, a 40% service charge discount was also extended to tenants during the temporary closure period.
The increase in revenue and lower property operating expenses resulted in net property income (NPI) increasing 31.5% to $17.3 million in 3Q21 from $13.1 million in 3Q20.
Distribution to unitholders was $6.9 million in 3Q21, compared to $2.0 million in 3Q20.
On a nine-month basis, rental revenue and gross revenue grew 14.5% and 2.4% to $73.8 million and $124.2 million respectively, while NPI increased 13.9% to $74.9 million and distribution to unitholders rose to $20.0 million from $8.7 million in 9M20.
Its portfolio occupancy rate declined in 3Q21 to 81.1%, mainly due to early termination of leases of anchor tenants – Matahari Department Store which accounts for 1.3% of portfolio net lettable area (NLA) and Hypermart, which accounts for 0.5% of portfolio NLA. The weighted average lease expiry by NLA as at Sept 30 was 3.3 years.
With the easing of restrictions, LMIRT’s retail malls and retail spaces have gradually reopened from mid-August and are now operating under the more relaxed PPKM regulations.
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James Liew, CEO of the manager says the highly infectious Covid-19 Delta variant that caused a resurgence of the outbreak in Indonesia continues to impact LMIRT’s financial performance.
“We need to continue to provide rental support to our tenants over the next few months. We will also be working closely with our mall operator to actively bring in new and replacement tenants to boost the occupancy of some of the malls that were significantly impacted during this past one and half years of challenging operating conditions.”
Units in LMIRT closed 3.5% lower at 5.5 cents on Oct 26.
Photo: LMIRT
