CapitaLand Mall Trust's Q1 DPU down 70.5% on income retention

CAPITALAND Mall Trust (CMT) has entered cash-conservation mode amid the volatility of Covid-19, leading to a 70.5 per cent fall in distribution per unit (DPU) to 0.85 cents for the first quarter ended March.

Gross revenue for the quarter inched up 6 per cent to S$204.3 million, and net property income was up 5.9 per cent to S$148.3 million. The growth arose from the June 2019 opening of Funan Mall, which contributed S$15.8 million to total gross revenue. But this was offset by the amortisation of rental rebates granted to tenants affected by Covid-19.

Given the "uncertainty and challenges brought about by the rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic", CMT has retained S$69.6 million of taxable income in Q1. This led to a distributable income of about S$31.6 million for the quarter, 70.3 per cent lower than a year ago.

CMT unitholders can expect to receive their DPU for Q1 on June 5. 

Tony Tan, chief executive of the manager of CMT, expects the impact of Covid-19 to deepen in Q2, because only about a quarter of its portfolio tenants are operating during Singapore's "circuit-breaker" period. 

The company said that, to maintain its resilience, it is suspending all non-essential operating and capital expenditure. It will also defer all asset enhancement and development initiatives, except for the ongoing upgrading works at Lot One Shoppers' Mall in Choa Chu Kang.

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Mr Tan said: "In view of the continuing headwinds, we have exercised prudence by retaining about 69 per cent of CMT's Q1 taxable income to maintain our financial capacity and flexibility. As solidarity is key to overcoming the unprecedented challenges from Covid-19, we seek unitholders' support while we work closely with our tenants to build greater resilience for our retail ecosystem."  

CMT will pass on to its tenants the full savings from the property tax rebates granted by the government. To date, it has committed a rental relief package of about S$114 million. 

Units of CMT closed at S$1.89 on Thursday, up by S$0.07.