KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): Asset enhancement works at Sungei Wang Plaza weighed on the net property income of CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust as income fell nearly 14% to RM51.74 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, from RM60.07 million a year ago.

Distribution per unit (DPU) for the quarter amounted to 1.9 sen for a yield of 7.14% based on CMMT’s closing price of RM1.11, CMMT said in a statement today.

As its DPU is paid out on a half yearly basis, CMMT said unitholders can expect to receive their 3QFY18 DPU, along with their DPU for the quarter ending Dec 31, 2018, by February 2019.

Overall, distributable income for 3QFY18 decreased 8.37% to RM38.8 million, versus RM42.39 million in 3QFY17.

In a bourse filing, CMMT said the downtime from asset enhancement works at the Jumpa lifestyle annex of Sungei Wang had affected net property income.

Revenue for the quarter declined 7.03% to RM86.15 million from RM92.67 million last year.

For the cumulative nine months, NPI slid 9.71% to RM162.14 million against RM179.57 million last year, while revenue declined 4.94% to RM263.24 million from RM276.93 million.

For the nine months, CMMT’s DPU amounted to 5.92 sen which translates into an annualised DPU of 7.92 sen.

“Against a backdrop of global uncertainties and challenging retail operating conditions, we continued to focus on strengthening the appeal of our malls through proactive asset management, including asset enhancement initiatives and tenant mix adjustments,” said CapitaLand Malaysia Mall REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM) chairman David Wong. “Notwithstanding the challenges, we remain committed to delivering sustainable income distributions to Unitholders.”

CMRM is the manager of CMMT.  

“For YTD 2018, Gurney Plaza and East Coast Mall continued to record year-on-year revenue growth, further cementing their respective market leadership in the Northern and East Coast regions of Peninsular Malaysia. Their growth helped to mitigate the lower contributions from our Klang Valley malls, which have been affected by increased competition in the vicinity and the ongoing asset enhancement works at Sungei Wang,” said CMRM chief executive officer Low Peck Chen.

As the Jumpa lifestyle annex is progressing according to schedule — it is slated to open in 2QFY19 — Low said shoppers can look forward to an exciting line-up of more than 80 specialty shops offering fashion, food and beverage, family entertainment and athleisure.

CCMT closed unchanged at RM1.10, valuing it at RM2.27 billion.