Mapletree Commercial Trust NPI up 5.6% YoY to hit $291.31m in FY21/22

Thanks to the higher compensation received from lease pre-terminations.

Mapletree Commercial Trust Management (MCTM) Ltd. reported an increase of 5.6% to their net property income (NPI) based on their latest financial results.

The group attributed this performance to lower rental rebates and higher compensation received from lease pre-terminations, compared to a year ago. As of 31 December 2021, the committed occupancy rate of the portfolio was 96.3%.

Property operating expenses also saw an increase by 13.6% year-on-year (YoY) to have a recorded value of $82.69m.

“At VivoCity, the third quarter FY21/22 tenant sales grew by 3.7% YoY, reaching almost 90% of pre-COVID levels. In tandem with gradually easing COVID-19 measures and sales improvements observed, tenant rebates have tapered in Q3 FY21/22. On a year-to-date basis, we have rendered rental rebates amounting to approximately 1.1 months of fixed rents to eligible tenants and we stand ready to support them where warranted,” commented Sharon Lim, CEO, MCTM.

Gross revenue from office and business park assets also experience a jump of 3.3% YoY. This was due to contributions from MBC, mTower, and Bank of America Merill Lynch Harbourfront. The NPI for these assets was also higher by 2.1%.

In terms of capital management, MCT reported a well-distributed debt maturity profile with no more than 24% of the debt due in any financial year. To supplement this, more than $400m of cash and undrawn committed facilities have been put in place.

An average term to maturity of debt was also seen at 3.5 years, with the aggregate leverage hovering at 34.1%. An estimated 75.3% of the total debt of $3.01b was fixed by way of fixed-rate debt or interest rate swaps.

MCT also reported on the proposed merger with MNACT, thereby forming MPACT, a commercial REIT for markets of Asia. The resulting merger is expected to bear a market capitalisation of around $10.5b post-merger, with a portfolio spanning Singapore, China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and South Korea. A value of around $17.1b was also recorded with its assets under management.

The merger is expected to complete by the first half FY22/23.