CapitaLand needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat for Singapore's largest Reit to multiply

CAPITALAND traded at significant discount to its book value until the real estate giant restructured itself earlier this year, in an exercise that saw its property development business going private while its real estate investment management activities and lodging business remained in the public market under an entity called CapitaLand Investment (CLI).

Since its trading debut at S$2.95 on Sep 20, CLI has climbed 14.2 per cent. It closed on Dec 8 at S$3.37 - a 9.8 per cent premium to its book value of S$3.07 per share as at Sep 30.

Now, the CapitaLand group needs to pull another rabbit out of the hat to ensure CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) - the largest of its real estate investment trusts (Reits) - remains a useful and viable asset securitisation vehicle.