MNACT tumbles on news overnight that protesters had damaged its HK mall

Singapore

UNITS of Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) sank on Wednesday on news that its Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong had suffered damage as protests spread across the city.

The counter fell as much as 5.7 per cent or seven cents to an 11-month low of S$1.15 in the afternoon, before closing at S$1.16, down 4.9 per cent or six cents.

Some 44.3 million units changed hands, making it one of the most heavily traded counters on the Singapore bourse for the day.

Anti-government protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong for a third day on Wednesday, after its leader Carrie Lam said protesters trying to paralyse the city were being "extremely selfish". Violent clashes had raged on Tuesday night between police and protesters in the Asian financial hub, particularly at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In a bourse filing on Wednesday before the market opened, MNACT said the Festival Walk mall in Kowloon Tong had sustained "extensive damage" from incidents on Tuesday night. Groups of protesters had smashed the glass panels at the property's entrances, including the office lobby and balustrades on various levels of the mall. They also set fire to the Christmas tree within the mall, as well as the office lobby. The fires were eventually put out.

There were no reports of injuries at the property, the real estate investment trust (Reit) said.

Festival Walk has been closed since 2pm on Tuesday amid city-wide disruptions, and remained closed on Wednesday. MNACT's manager is assessing the damage and will provide an update in due course.

A DBS note on Wednesday morning was of the opinion that sentiment on MNACT will remain cautious, even though major disruptions are not anticipated for now. "We believe that over time, the landlord may have to rethink potential tenant incentives in order to work together with tenants to ride out the current uncertain operating environment in the near term," the note stated.

Protesters also overran City University adjacent to the mall on Tuesday. Students in hard hats and gas masks spent much of the day barricading the university campus, making home-made shields, and stockpiled bricks and petrol bombs on bridges.

Before that, altercations had also broken out at Festival Walk during what was supposed to be a peaceful gathering of protesters on Sunday afternoon. The Reit manager's team was on site to immediately direct shoppers, tenants and their employees out of the premises, MNACT said in a filing on Monday.

The mall was closed at 6.45pm on Sunday, before resuming operations on Monday. There had been minimal damage to the property from Sunday's incident.

The Singapore-based Reit generated about 62 per cent of net property income from Festival Walk for its second quarter ended Sept 30.