SINGAPORE (Jan 25): The manager of Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust Management announced that Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust’s (MGCCT) 3Q17/18 DPU increased by 5.1% to 1.868 cents compared to 1.778 cents in 3Q16/17, bringing 9M17/18 DPU to 5.582 cents.
In 3Q17/18, gross revenue increased 0.7% to $88.5 million from $87.8 million last year, mainly due to revenue growth from the all three of the trust’s properties due to higher rent and lower accrued revenue for Gateway Plaza due to the uncertainty in the applicable VAT rate prior to obtaining clarification in March 2017.
This was however offset by lower average rate of HKD and RMB against SGD.
Property operating expenses was up by 3.8% to $17.1 million from $16.4 million a year ago, mainly attributable to higher maintenance costs, promotion and marketing costs at Festival Walk.
Hence, net property income for 3Q17/18 came in at $71.4 million, unchanged from the same period in previous year.
Finance costs dropped 8.9% to $17.4 million compared to $19.1 million last year, due to refinancing of bank debt at a lower cost of debt of $1.0 million, lower financing fees and lower average rate of HKD against SGD.
Total return attributable to unitholders for 3Q17/18 was $41.2 million, 5.0% higher than $39.2 million recorded a year ago.
Cindy Chow, CEO of Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust Management, says, “We will continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities to drive further growth of MGCCT, diversify its income source and portfolio geographically, and provide stable long-term returns to our unitholders.”
Units in MGCCT closed at $1.27 on Thursday.
