Portfolio up despite negative sentiment; fast-growing Japfa added

Equity markets are taking a breather after a run-up in the first three weeks of the year. The Straits Times Index gained 0.2% over the period of Jan 25 to 31. A travel ban imposed by US president Donald Trump on seven Muslim-majority countries appears to have had a negative impact on market sentiment. Over the period, our portfolio gained 0.2%. Since its inception, it is now up 1.2%, or a total of $2,493.50.

Among our holdings that recorded gains in the past week was CapitaLand. The property developer rose 2.5% in the period of Jan 25 to 31 despite the poorer results announced last week by some of its listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) last week: CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) and Malaysia-listed CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust (CMMT).

CRCT was dealt a blow as the renminbi weakened against the Singapore dollar last year. It reported a 5.2% y-o-y decline in distribution per unit to 10.05 cents in FY ended Dec 31, 2016. It also recorded higher property tax provisions for its Beijing malls, owing to a change from a cost to a revenue basis effective from July 1 last year. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and the additional tax provision, DPU would have grown 5.8% y-o-y. The REIT, which has a portfolio of 11 shopping malls in China, saw net property income slip 1% to $139.7 million. Its distributable income declined 2.8% to $86.7 million.

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