CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT) has reported a 3.4% y-o-y decline in gross revenue of RMB1.38 billion ($255.9 million) for the 9MFY2024 ended Sept 30. This was due to lower occupancy and rents from CLCT’s logistics and business park portfolios as well as the absence of contributions from CapitaMall Shuangjing and CapitaMall Qibao but offset by improved performances from malls that underwent asset enhancement initiatives (AEIs). CapitaMall Shuangjing was divested in December 2023 while CapitaMall Qibao ceased operations at the end of March 2023.
NPI for the 9MFY2024 also fell by 5.1% y-o-y to RMB930.2 million due to lower contributions from the REIT’s logistics and business park portfolios and malls that exited the portfolio. The lower NPI was also due to lower effective occupancies and rentals, as well as absence of one-off property tax incentives. This was offset by improvements in AEI malls.
As at Sept 30, CLCT’s portfolio occupancy stood at 91.4%, down from 93.1% in the same period the year before. Shopper traffic for the 9MFY2024 rose by 10.1% y-o-y while tenant sales rose by 2.4% y-o-y.
Portfolio weighted average lease expiry (WALE) stood at 1.8 years by gross rental income (GRI) and 2.2 years by net lettable area (NLA).
In its update, CLCT says it intends to grow its RMB-denominated debt to increase natural hedging. As the RMB rate easing cycle begins, the REIT says it stands to benefit from rather rate cuts. As at Sept 30, CLCT’s RMB-denominated debt stood at 31% while its Singapore dollar (SGD)-denominated debt stood at 69%.
As at 10.17am, units in CLCT are trading 0.5 cents lower or 0.66% down at 75.5 cents.
