CapitaMalls Malaysia says its four-strong shopping centre portfolio performed well despite challenging conditions in the latest quarter.
CMMT posted a net property income of RM54.6 million (US$15.06 million) in the three months to December 31. It said the steady performance was mainly due to contribution from East Coast Mall, which had completed a two-phase upgrade program.
CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management, the manager of CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust, said it would make a distribution per unit of 2.26 sen for the quarter – 0.9 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2013.
Its four malls are strategically located in key urban centres across Malaysia: Gurney Plaza in Penang, a majority interest in Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, The Mines in Selangor and East Coast Mall in Kuantan, Pahang. The portfolio has a total net lettable area of over 2.5 million sqft.
David Wong Chin Huat, chairman of CMRM, said that despite a challenging operating environment and higher cost pressures in 2014, CMMT delivered stable results due to its proactive asset management strategy as well as its practice of regular asset enhancement initiatives.
“For this year, Malaysia’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent, driven mainly by domestic demand. We expect retail sales in Malaysia to continue to be stable as the government has lined up several measures to boost private consumption.
“Our malls are essentially focused on necessity shopping. This has proven to be resilient during uncertain times. As such, CMMT is confident of delivering sustainable returns to our unitholders in 2015.”
Low Peck Chen, CEO of CMRM, said the trust faced short term challenges at Sungei Wang Plaza due to ongoing MRT (light rail) works and higher operating costs, but the additional income generated from the completion of asset enhancement works at East Coast Mall helped cushion the impact.
“East Coast Mall underwent major asset enhancement works that involved the extension of the alfresco area, conversion of car park spaces into additional retail space, and reconfiguration of the ground, first and second floors to further enhance its offerings and trade mix.”
Source insideretail.asia