CapitaLand Commercial Integrated Trust (CICT) has recorded a 66.6% y-o-y jump in net property income (NPI) for the 1QFY2021 ended March to $247 million.
The higher NPI is in line with higher revenue for the period, which surged 63.9% y-o-y to $334.8 million according to the trust's 1QFY2021 business update dated April 26.
The trust did not report figures for distributable income or distribution per unit (DPU).
The higher revenue and NPI come on the back of contributions from office assets beginning from October 2020 following the merger between CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust.
Higher contributions from Raffles City Singapore also boosted NPI. Contributions from the integrated development were previously recognised on a 40% joint venture basis prior to the merger, compared to the 100% basis for the 1QFY2021.
Portfolio occupancy as of March 31 stood at 95.9%, while the weighted average lease expiry (WALE) stood at 3.1 years.
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For its retail portfolio, occupancy stood at 97.1%, with a WALE of 1.8 years as of the 1QFY2021. CICT notes that the Phase 3 reopening has helped shopper traffic recover to 75.3% of 1QFY2020 levels, with tenants' sales per square foot up 2.9% y-o-y.
CICT’s office portfolio has an occupancy of 94.9% as of March 31, with 291,800 square feet worth of leases signed during the 1QFY2021. According to the trust, 51.3% of the office community has returned for the week ended April 16. CICT also notes that leasing inquiries have grown by 1.7 times compared to the previous quarter as companies plan for more workers to return to the office.
For its integrated developments portfolio, occupancy stood at 96.5% with a WALE of 5 years. CICT highlights that the restructuring of the Raffles City Hotel lease came into effect on Jan 1, with no change to rent components including minimum rent, service charge and variable rent, as well as an extension of the lease by additional five years from 2036 to 2041.
On its CapitaSpring development, CICT highlighted that the project is on track to complete by 2HFY2021. Committed occupancy has been achieved for 50% of its net leasable area as of April 15, with another 15% currently under negotiation.
In terms of its outlook for the rest of 2021, CICT states that its roadmap is supported by the prospective economic recovery.
For its office and retail portfolio, CICT expects limited new supply in the retail and office markets to mitigate any softening demand, while improved economic activity should follow as sentiment recovers on the back of the vaccination rollout.
CICT intends to complete ongoing asset enhancement initiatives as well as deliver its CapitaSpring redevelopment project in 2021, while in the medium to long term, the trust will focus on enhancing portfolio quality through accretive acquisitions, portfolio reconstitution and proactive leasing, among other initiatives.
Units in CICT closed down 1 cent or 0.46% lower at $2.17 on April 23.
