CICT posts 0.5% rise in Q1 NPI to S$248.3 million

CAPITALAND Integrated Commercial Trust’s (CICT : C38U 0%) net property income (NPI) inched up 0.5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2022 to S$248.3 million, the real estate investment trust's (Reit) manager announced on Friday (Apr 29) after market close.

The slight yearly growth in NPI was also seen in some of its segments. Retail earnings grew 0.6 per cent to S$101.8 million, integrated development earnings rose 0.8 per cent to S$72.5 million, while NPI from office earnings held steady at S$74 million.

Gross revenue for the 3 months ended Mar 31 also rose marginally to S$339.7 million, up 1.5 per cent from Q1 2021.

The Reit manager also reported a weighted average lease term of 3.7 years for its properties. By segment, CICT’s retail portfolio WALE is 2 years, while its office and integrated development WALEs are 4 years and 5.4 years respectively.

Its integrated developments also saw an occupancy rise of 1.6 percentage points to 97.6 per cent. However, this was more than offset by its retail and office portfolio occupancies, which fell 0.2 percentage point to 96.6 per cent and a 0.1 percentage point to 91.4 per cent respectively. CICT’s overall portfolio occupancy dropped 0.3 percentage point to 93.6 per cent quarter on quarter.

As Singapore’s Covid-19 measures were further eased on Apr 26, CICT is maintaining a positive business outlook. The Reit manager noted that the unemployment rate declined to 2.7 per cent in 2021 from 3.0 per cent in 2020, while the country’s gross domestic product is expected to grow between 3.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent for 2022.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

Sign Up

The manager added that prime retail rents have remained stable in view of the eventual return of tourists, as well as employees to offices. Suburban market rents also continued to rise on limited availability in Q1 2022.

Meanwhile, on the office market outlook, CICT said: “CBRE expects office rents in the Grade A CBD Core market to grow by 6.9 per cent y-o-y for 2022, supported by demand from agile space, technology and non-bank financial sectors and limited supply.”

Units of CICT closed unchanged at S$2.33 on Friday, before the announcement.