CapitaLand’s Chinese and Malaysian businesses have reported opposite fortunes in the latest quarter.
CapitaLand Retail China Trust Management Limited (CRCTML), which manages CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT), says income available for distribution to unitholders for the quarter was S$26.9 million (US$19.7 million), up 17.6 per cent year-on-year.
However, CapitaLand Malaysia Mall REIT Management (CMRM), which manages CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust (CMMT), says net property income for the September quarter was MYR 83.7 million ($20 million), representing a 20.2-per-cent decline in income distributable to unitholders.
In China, the improved performance was attributable to higher organic growth from existing malls, as well as contributions from the newly acquired CapitaMall Xuefu, CapitaMall Yuhuating and CapitaMall Aidemengdun. The acquisition of these three malls was completed after the sale of CapitaMall Wuhu (pictured) and CapitaMall Saihan.
Tan Tze Wooi, CEO of CRCTML, said CRCT’s portfolio has remained resilient. “Through effective space reconfiguration and collaboration with popular brands to continually refresh our offerings, we achieved a portfolio rental reversion of 7.4 per cent for the third quarter. Partnering with leading omnichannel players, as well as introducing interactive and ‘internet celebrity’ stores have also strengthened our malls’ appeal with younger consumers. These efforts translated to an improved year-on-year growth in our portfolio shopper traffic and tenants’ sales of 8.3 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively. Portfolio occupancy as at 30 September 2019 remained strong at 97.1 per cent.”
A contrast in Malaysia
CMMT reported that higher year-on-year revenue from Gurney Plaza, East Coast Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower partially mitigated lower contributions from the Klang Valley shopping malls during the quarter.
Low Peck Chen, CEO of CMRM, said Gurney Plaza and East Coast Mall recorded improvements in net property income (NPI), which helped moderate lower contributions from the trust’s Klang Valley malls.
“The basement level of East Coast Mall has been reconfigured to house more service-related offerings, which will further contribute to our performance going forward. As part of our strategy to elevate the positioning of Gurney Plaza, the upgrading of the supermarket will be completed by the end of the year.
“Sungei Wang’s newly refurbished annex block Jumpa opened its doors to shoppers on September 25. It is expected to contribute progressively to the portfolio’s NPI from the fourth quarter. Shoppers at Jumpa can look forward to the opening of two mini anchors in December,” he said.
