Source : Straits Times - 18 Jul 2008
UNITHOLDERS of CapitaMall Trust (CMT) will receive a bumper payout for the second quarter, with distributable income up 20 per cent to $58.6 million from last year.
The trust will pay out 3.52 cents per unit for the three months ended June 30, compared with 3.12 cents per unit last year.
CMT said its portfolio performed better than forecast, mainly due to stronger rentals achieved on new and renewed leases.
Consultant Jones Lang LaSalle and CapitaLand Research also project CMT’s rental rates to increase between 16.1 and 17.5 per cent by 2012.
This is despite record inflation threatening a further decline in retail spending and rising operating costs for retailers.
CMT, listed in 2002, is the first real estate investment trust (Reit) to report its second-quarter results. With a current asset value of $7.2 billion, it is the largest Reit in both asset size and market capitalisation in Singapore.
It is also on track to reach its target asset value of $9 billion by 2010 through new acquisitions and enhancements to its current pool of shopping malls.
‘Asset enhancement has grown to become a key contributor to CMT’s distribution per unit and net asset value growth,’ Mr Pua Seck Guan, the chief executive of the Reit’s manager, said yesterday.
Upgrades to enhance its retail malls are expected to continue into 2010.
In May, CMT said it would pay the Government $840 million for The Atrium@Orchard. It said the integration with the adjacent Plaza Singapura would require an additional $150.1 million in capital expenditure.
CMT units rose 3 cents to $3.07 yesterday.
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