SINGAPORE (July 24): The manager of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) announced a DPU of 3.053 cents for 3Q18 ended June, up 1.8% year-on-year.
Gross revenue for 3Q18 was up 10.9% y-o-y to $48.3 million on higher contributions from the three larger malls in the portfolio.
Northpoint City North Wing’s 3Q18 revenue was up 35.9% y-o-y with higher occupancy and rental revenue, while Causeway Point and Changi City Point also delivered better performance with 3.8% and 15.8% revenue growth, respectively.
Net property income for 3Q18 was $35.0 million, up 13.7% as revenue growth for the quarter outpaced the 4.3% increase in property expenses.
As at end June, FCT’s financial position remains solid with gearing level at 29.3% and the weighted average debt maturity stood at 2.2 years.
The all-in average cost of borrowings was 2.5%.
FCT has 55% of its borrowings on fixed or hedged-to-fixed interest rates. Net asset value and net tangible value per unit was stable at $2.02.
During 3Q18, 37 leases accounting for 4.6% of FCT’s total net lettable area were renewed at an average rental reversion of +5.0%.
Northpoint City North Wing registered rental reversion of +25.8%, due substantially to the one lease which accounted for 50% of the mall’s net lettable area (NLA) due for renewal during the quarter.
Other malls which registered positive rental reversions include Causeway Point (+3.5%), Changi City Point (+7.5%), Bedok Point (+6.2%) and YewTee Point (+2.5%).
Anchorpoint recorded negative rental reversion of 32.8% on lease renewals for two small units which accounted for 1.3% of the mall’s NLA.
3Q18 portfolio shopper traffic, excluding Northpoint City North Wing, was up 1.2% y-o-y. The larger malls Causeway Point and Changi City Point saw an average increase of 5% in shopper traffic, while the smaller malls saw lower traffic.
In its outlook, manager Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management says retail sales index increased 2.2% year-on-year in May, excluding motor vehicles.
In addition, overall financial performance of the trust continues to benefit from the successful completion of asset enhancement at Northpoint City North Wing.
Units in FCT closed 2 cents higher at $2.27.