CAPITALAND China Trust (CLCT) posted net property income (NPI) of 316.4 million yuan for the third quarter ended September, up 1.2 per cent from 312.5 million yuan a year prior.

NPI in Singapore dollar terms, however, fell 8.4 per cent to S$58.9 million from S$64.3 million previously. This is due to a 10.5 per cent year-on-year depreciation of the yuan against the Singapore dollar.

CLCT’s manager on Friday (Oct 27) attributed overall NPI growth, in yuan terms, to a general recovery across its retail portfolio, excluding CapitaMall Qibao and CapitaMall Shuangjing.

CapitaMall Qibao ceased operations ahead of its master lease expiration, while rent provisions were made at CapitaMall Shuangjing. Excluding these two assets, the manager said Q3 retail NPI would have risen 13.4 per cent on year instead of by 4.7 per cent.

As a result of CapitaMall Qibao’s closure and the provisions made at CapitaMall Shuangjing, the China real estate investment trust’s gross revenue fell 1.9 per cent to 478.8 million yuan from 488.3 million yuan in Q3 FY2022.

CLCT’s retail portfolio achieved 97.8 per cent occupancy for Q3, which the manager noted was a new high since Q4 FY2021. Shopper traffic grew 35.3 per cent on year; tenant sales were 6.5 per cent above pre-Covid levels, compared to FY2019 figures.

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In the trust’s new-economy portfolio, CLCT’s manager said business park occupancy was maintained at 90.8 per cent, despite lower business sentiments.

Retail performance continued to lead the trust’s overall portfolio recovery for the nine-month period, with overall 9M portfolio occupancy at 93.1 per cent. Tenant sales grew 30.2 per cent and shopper traffic rose 33 per cent for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

The manager said CLCT’s retail portfolio is positioned to ride the recovery of domestic consumption, with well-staggered asset-enhancement initiatives across multiple assets.

While the outlook for business parks remains conservative, it noted that recent government interventions and policy stimuli indicated that “things are stabilising”.

The manager expects continued supply pressure to keep its Shanghai logistics vacancy elevated in the short term, thus constraining rent growth in the logistics park space.

CLCT : AU8U 0% units ended Thursday S$0.005 or 0.6 per cent down at S$0.80.