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KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust’s (CMMT) second quarter net property income (NPI) came in at RM59.8 million, down slightly by 0.3% compared with RM60 million a year earlier.
This was largely due to lower contribution from the REIT’s Klang Valley shopping malls, which was mitigated by stronger performance from Gurney Plaza and East Coast Mall, said its manager, CapitaLand Malaysia Mall REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM), in a statement today.
Distributable income for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was RM41.9 million and distribution per unit (DPU) was 2.06 sen.
The total DPU for the first half of 2017 was 4.14 sen. The annualised DPU of 8.35 sen for the period translates to an annualised distribution yield of 5.4%, based on CMMT’s closing price of RM1.55 per unit yesterday.
As CMMT’s DPU is paid out on a half yearly basis, unitholders will be paid their their first half DPU on Aug 25, said CMRM.
CMRM chairman David Wong said that in light of the prevailing cautious consumer sentiment and increasing competition brought on by new malls, the operating environment for the retail industry is expected to remain challenging.
“Despite this, we remain positive that our portfolio of well-diversified necessity malls will continue to deliver sustainable income distribution for unitholders in the long term,” he said.
CMRM chief executive officer Low Peck Chen said that amidst a challenging environment, all of CMMT’s malls achieved a committed occupancy level of above 90%, and on the whole, its portfolio occupancy stood at a healthy 95.8% as at June 30.
Low said that in the second half of 2017, CMMT’s malls in Penang and Kuantan continued to draw interest from new-to-region brands.
“Food and beverage operators such as Doutor Coffee Japan and Original Cake have opened at Gurney Plaza, while Boat Noodle has commenced operations in East Coast Mall.
“These two malls will be embarking on asset enhancement initiatives to further enhance their attractiveness to shoppers,” she said.
She added that CMMT’s Klang Valley malls also welcomed new dining options, including the second Oliver Gourmet marketplace-cum-food hall at The Mines and a new Japanese restaurant opening next month at Tropicana City Mall.
“After the completion of reconfiguration works, Sungei Wang Plaza’s concourse now offers more food and beverage options.
To improve the mall’s connectivity with the rest of the Bukit Bintang and Kuala Lumpur City Centre retail nodes, CMMT will jointly construct an elevated pedestrian bridge and external escalators on its side façade along Jalan Bulan 2.
Targeted for completion in end-2018, the bridge and escalators are expected to improve Sungei Wang Plaza’s accessibility, said Low. — theedgemarkets.com
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