Higher Festival Walk rents, stronger HKD, yen boost MNACT Q2 DPU

HIGHER rental income from Festival Walk and higher average rates of Hong Kong dollar and Japanese yen boosted Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust's (MNACT) second-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.937 Singapore cents, up from 1.926 cents it paid out a year ago.

This was partially offset by the lower average rate of Chinese yuan (CNY) against the Singapore dollar (SGD).

For the three months ended Sept 30, the Reit reported a nearly flat revenue at S$105.5 million, while net property income inched up 1.3 per cent to S$84.7 million.

Distributable income in tandem rose 1.5 per cent to S$61.7 million.

The Reit said that during the first half of the fiscal year, gross revenue and net property income of Festival Walk, a shopping centre in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, rose 4.2 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively year-on-year, while leasing demand remained steady, supporting the mall's full occupancy and positive average rental reversion.

However, amid the challenging and uncertain retail environment in the territory, tenants' sales and shopper traffic for Festival Walk registered a decrease of 6.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year.

Besides retail malls, the Reit also owns office properties in Beijing, Shanghai and Greater Tokyo, but it noted that escalating trade tensions led to weaker office leasing sentiments in China, and a lower average rate of the CNY against the SGD also affected top and bottom lines.

Unitholders will receive their Q2 distribution on Nov 22. The books closure date is Nov 5 at 5pm.