CapitaLand Mall Trust's property income inches up 1.2% to $117.6m

Thanks to lower utilities and maintenance expenses.

It was a decent quarter for CapitaLand Mall Trust as it recorded a 1.2% increase in its net property income to $117.6m.

According to OCBC Investment Research analyst Wong Teck Ching Andy, the increase in NPI is due to the lower utilities and maintenance expenses offsetting the decline in gross revenue, which went down slightly by 1.3% to $168.6m.

"The fall in gross revenue was largely attributed to the ceasing of operations at Funan since it is being redeveloped," the analyst said.

Meanwhile, the group's distribution per unit inched up 0.4% to 2.75 S-cents. However, it had retained $2.6m of its taxable income available for distribution during the quarter.

"Operationally, CMT saw a mild negative rental reversion of 1.6% in 1H17, given the drag from Bedok Mall and Westgate. However, shopper traffic (+0.4%) and tenants’ sales psf per month (flat) were stable," the analyst said.