Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust 'reviewing' if it should defer perp coupon in June

Published Mon, May 11, 2020 · 05:45 AM

LIPPO Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) has not yet decided if it will defer an upcoming distribution to perpetual securities holders payable on June 19, and will only make a final decision early next month, it said.

The Indonesian retail landlord was addressing concerns over how it will manage its cash-flow uncertainty as Covid-19 has caused it to forgo 1.5 months of rental income, with no guarantee as to when its malls can reopen.

In a research note dated May 5, OCBC credit analyst Wong Hong Wei flagged that LMIRT had not accrued distributions to perpetual holders under the statement of distribution in its first-quarter results filed on April 30, contrary to what it did last year.

"As such, we expect LMIRT to miss the distributions in June for its 6.6 per cent perp and September for its 7 per cent perps. If this happens, thereafter equity dividends will also have to be cut entirely till distributions to perpetual holders are resumed," Mr Won…