CMMT distributable income rises 41% in 3Q

KUALA LUMPUR: CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust's (CMMT) distributable income in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011 (3QFY11), rose 40.6% to RM29.7 million from a year ago on higher property income and gross revenue.

Revenue increased 33.3% to RM57.84 million from RM43.39 million.

CMMT's distributable income rose on net property income of RM41.1 million (35.6% higher than 3QFY10) and gross revenue of RM57.8 million (33.3% higher than 3QFY10), said CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM), the manager of CMMT, in a press release on Thursday.

For 3QFY11, CMMT distribution per unit (DPU) increased by 26.9% to 1.98 sen compared with 1.56 sen a year ago.

Based on CMMT's closing price of RM1.28 per unit on Thursday, its DPU of 1.98 sen translates to an annualised distribution yield of 6.1%, said CMRM.

CMRM chairman Kee Teck Koon said the stronger results were boosted by the Gurney Plaza extension in 3QFY11, the acquisition of which was completed on March 28.

"Since then, we have announced another acquisition of East Coast Mall in Kuantan, which is expected to be completed by year-end. We continue to actively look for acquisition opportunities as part of our growth strategy to enhance unit holder value," he said.

Sharon Lim, CEO of CMRM, said East Coast Mall is expected to contribute over RM20 million in net property income per year to CMMT's existing portfolio.

Lim said CMMT had a near full occupancy rate of 98.7% across its portfolio and rental renewal increases of 6.7%.

"Our asset enhancement works at Gurney Plaza are progressing well and on track to be completed by year-end, and will start contributing to our income from next year onwards," Lim said.

A "pure-play" shopping mall REIT, CMMT's portfolio comprises Gurney Plaza in Penang, The Mines in Selangor, and an interest in Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur. The portfolio has a total net lettable area of over two million sq ft.

For the cumulative nine-month period, CMMT's distributable income quadrupled to RM85.4 million from RM21.1million a year ago while revenue more than tripled to RM167.7 million from RM43.4 million.

Shares in CMMT closed unchanged at RM1.28 on Thursday.