CICT's malls post rental reversion of negative 6.6% in FY20

RENTAL reversions at Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT)'s malls were a negative 6.6 per cent in FY20, but the chief executive of the manager Tony Tan hopes that this is the bottom for the real estate investment trust (Reit). The Reit would only be willing to accept lower rents for tactical reasons, he said, such as to include certain brands that would improve traffic for a mall.

Throughout the Covid-19 period, Mr Tan said, CICT has had to balance between retaining tenants and managing rentals.

"It's a trade-off. What do you want? You want occupancy or you want to hang on to your rent? The cash flow effect can sometimes be bigger than the reversion impact," he said, in a post-results call with the media and analysts. Cash flow can affect gearing and landlords' ability to engage with the authorities.