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AFTER weathering half a year of bleak retail news, CapitaMall Trust's (CMT) distributable income rose 15.8 per cent to $67.9 million for the second quarter of 2009, year-on-year.
Gross revenue rose 10.4 per cent to $138.6 million for Q2 ended June 30, up from $125.6 million in Q2 last year.
The increase was driven mainly by the contribution from The Atrium@Orchard which was acquired last August, and higher gross revenue galvanised by the completion of asset enhancement initiatives at Sembawang Shopping Centre.
Net property income for Q2 saw a 12.2 per cent increase year-on-year, to $93.8 million. For the first six months, net property income rose 10.6 per cent to $186.2 million.
Distribution per unit also rose to 2.13 cents in Q2 from 1.85 cents in the same period a year ago. For H1 2009, CMT will be retaining $4.8 million from taxable income available for distribution - $1.5 million from Q2 and $3.3 million from Q1.
'We have, however, committed ourselves to a 100 per cent distribution payout for the whole of 2009, including the retained $4.8 million,' said Lim Beng Chee, chief executive officer of the trust's manager, yesterday.
For the six months ended June 30, the group's gross revenue rose 10.7 per cent year-on-year to $273.2 million while distributable income rose 11.9 per cent to $130.6 million.
Sales and traffic appear to be perking up slightly in the quarter, according to CMT. The group reported a 2.2 per cent increase in Q2's shopper traffic, and a 0.2 per cent increase in tenants' sales, quarter-on-quarter.
Rental renewal rates grew by 1.5 per cent for H1 2009 from preceding rental rates, with overall tenant retention rates of 76.1 per cent. As at June 30, gross revenue locked-in for 2009 stood at over 98 per cent of 2008's gross revenue.
Despite retail sales excluding vehicle sales in May falling 0.3 per cent month-on-month, the rate of decline has been slowing down since February.
'Things are picking up and the slowdown has become less severe. Tenant confidence is also better,' said Mr Lim.
CMT shares rose three cents to close at $1.58 yesterday.
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