Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) has reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 6.089 cents for the 2HFY2021 ended September, representing a 39.3% y-o-y increase from the DPU of 4.372 cents in the 2HFY2020.
Gross revenue for the 2HFY2021 surged 159.9% y-o-y to $167.53 million, while net property income (NPI) nearly quadrupled (or was up 213.2% y-o-y) to $120.91 million.
On a h-o-h basis, gross revenue fell 3.5% mainly due to the rental rebates assistance and loss of gross revenue from the divested properties.
2HFY2021 distributable income spiked 243.9% y-o-y to $103.57 million.
See: Frasers Centrepoint Trust raises stake in Waterway Point to 40%
The increases were mainly due to the enlarged portfolio after the ARF acquisition on Oct 27, 2020.
The lower increase in DPU, however, was due to the higher number of units. In the 2HFY2021, the REIT had a total of 1.70 billion units, compared to the 1.12 billion units in the 2HFY2020.
For the FY2021, DPU stood at 12.085 cents, or a 33.7% y-o-y increase from FY2020 DPU of 9.042 cents.
Gross revenue for the FY2021 increased 107.5% y-o-y to $341.15 million, while NPI improved by 122.4% y-o-y to $246.57 million.
Distributable income for the year stood 102.4% y-o-y higher at $204.67 million.
In the 4QFY2021, FCT’s retail portfolio reported a committed occupancy rate of 97.3%, 0.9 percentage points higher q-o-q.
Weighted average lease expiry (WALE) as at end-September stood at 1.64 years by net lettable assets (NLA).
FCT’s portfolio tenants’ sales between July and September was approximately 93% to 98% of the pre-Covid-19 levels.
Portfolio shopper traffic for the same period stood 50% to 60% of pre-Covid-19 levels.
As at end-September, cash and cash equivalents stood at $42.2 million.
"We are pleased that FCT has delivered a good set of results for FY2021, mainly on the contributions from the ARF Acquisition. It has been another challenging year due to the Covid-19 situation, which has weighed on some tenants’ businesses and shopper traffic to our malls,” says Richard Ng, CEO of the manager.
“In this challenging time, we see omnichannel retailing as a viable way to help cushion the impact on our tenants and to generate additional sales. Since its launch in January this year, the sales from Frasers eStore have tripled; and the sales from the F&B concierge Makan Master grew seven times since its launch in April 2020,” Ng adds.
For more stories about where the money flows, click here for our Capital section
Looking ahead, the REIT says the risks of the current Covid-19 pandemic “continue to pose uncertainties on [its] business and financial performance”. It adds that the easing of the safe management measures by the government will support the recovery of its tenants’ sales and shopper traffic.
Units in FCT closed 2 cents lower or 0.85% down at $2.33 on Oct 26.
Photo: FCT