MAINBOARD-LISTED Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (MGCCT) posted a 5.8 per cent rise in its Q2 18 distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.868 Singapore cents.
Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust Management Ltd, the manager of MGCCT, said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday that the increase was mainly driven by higher average rental rates from Festival Walk and Gateway Plaza, and lower accrued revenue for Gateway Plaza in Q2 17 due to the uncertainty in the applicable value added tax rate then.
MGCCT has properties in both China and Hong Kong, and its portfolio comprises Festival Walk, a retail mall with an office component located in Hong Kong, Gateway Plaza, a Grade-A office building with a podium area in Beijing, and Sandhill Plaza in Shanghai. The three properties have a total book value of about S$6 billion as at Sept 30, 2017.
MGCCT's DPU for H1 18 stood at 3.714 Singapore cents, up from 3.61 Singapore cents in H1 16.
For the three months ended Sept 30, 2017, distributable income rose 7.1 per cent to S$52.5 million from a year ago and net property income increased 5.4 per cent to S$71 million.
Gross revenue for Q2 18 increased 6.1 per cent to S$88.1 million.
The portfolio achieved an occupancy rate of 98.2 per cent. Cindy Chow, CEO of Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust Management Ltd, said that about 81 per cent of the expired/expiring leases in FY 18 at the portfolio level have been renewed or re-let as at Sept 30, 2017.
MGCCT's distribution policy is to distribute on a semi-annual basis. Unitholders can expect to receive the distribution on Nov 20, 2017.
MGCCT closed trading unchanged at S$1.19 on Friday.