Mapletree Commercial Trust's NPI inched up 2.8% to $88.35m in Q1

All properties except Mapletree Anson performed strongly in terms of contributions.

Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) saw its FY 2019/2020 start off on a high note after its net property income (NPI) edged up 2.8% YoY to $88.35m in Q1 from $85.94m, an announcement revealed. Its gross revenue for the quarter also rose 3.3% YoY from $108.53m to $112.13m.

Distributable income also grew 4.1% YoY to $67.25m from $64.61m, whilst distribution per unit (DPU) inched up 3.6% YoY from $0.0223 to $0.0231.

Also read: Mapletree Commercial Trust's NPI rose 2.2% to $87.87m in Q3

It attributed its strong performance to higher YoY contribution from all its properties, with the exception of Mapletree Anson, which saw its revenue drop by $500,000 due to compensation sums received in Q1 FY 2018/2019. Meanwhile, revenue for VivoCity was up by $2.6m thanks to higher rental income from new and renewed leases, coupled with asset enhancement initiatives (AEI) completed in the previous year and the effects of step-up rents in existing leases.

“We are proud to report good progress on the changeover of anchor tenant space in VivoCity. NTUC FairPrice successfully soft-launched its largest and most advanced store in Singapore on 16 July,” Sharon Lim, CEO of Mapletree Commercial Trust Management (MCTM), said. “The addition of their refreshed concept will help to widen our retail offerings and complete the mall’s trade mix. On top of that, we also converted the remaining anchor space to accommodate new/expanding tenants, including several popular food and beverage (F&B) eateries, thus strengthening the mall’s appeal and ability to meet shoppers’ diverse demands. We are also pleased to announce that the majority of them have started operations since May.”

Also read: MBC 2 buy could boost Mapletree Commercial Trust's FY2020 DPU by 2.8%

Revenue for MBC I was also higher by $1.2m, whilst revenue for PSA Building and Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront was up by $100,000 each due to higher rental income.

As at 30 June, the committed occupancy of the portfolio was 98.9%. The committed occupancy for VivoCity remained high at 99.8%, whilst the committed occupancy for MCT’s office/business park assets remained high, ranging from 93.8% at PSA Building to 100% at MLHF. MLHF continued to contribute to MCT’s portfolio stability and maintained full occupancy.