CMA profit up 70.8% to $62.4 million in 3Q12

Impressive growth centered on Singapore, China.

Malaysia rounds out the three key performing markets in which CapitaMalls Asia will depend on to sustain its current growth, the company said in a release accompanying its latest quarterly results.

Mr Liew Mun Leong, Chairman of CapitaMalls Asia, said, “We are pleased to report that we have continued our strong growth, with our third consecutive quarter of healthy double-digit increase in PATMI this year. Asia continues to show sustainable growth amidst the global economic gloom and the outlook for our key markets of Singapore, China and Malaysia remains positive."

"This year, retail sales in Singapore are expected to be underpinned by GDP growth of between 1.5% and 2.5%, and higher tourist arrivals of between 13.5 million and 14.5 million. In China, total retail sales are projected to grow at 15.0% per annum from 2011 to 2015, reaching about RMB32.0 trillion (S$6.2 trillion / HK$39.1 trillion) in 2015. In Malaysia, retail sales are forecast to rise 6.0% this year as the economy grows by an estimated 4.5% to 5.0%. With our portfolio of 19 malls in Singapore, 59 malls in China and six malls in Malaysia, we are well-positioned to benefit from the expected growth in retail sales in these countries," Mr Liew added.

Mr Lim Beng Chee, CEO of CapitaMalls Asia, said, “Our malls in our key markets of Singapore, China and Malaysia continued their growth momentum in the third quarter. The Net Property Income of our China malls on a same-mall basis increased 18.4% in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year. In that same timeframe, shopper traffic rose 9.4% while tenants’ sales grew 10.7%. This was driven by tenants’ sales in second- and third-tier cities, which increased at an even faster rate of 14.2%.”

“In the third quarter, we opened seven malls: The Star Vista in Singapore and six in China – CapitaMall Taiyanggong in Beijing; CapitaMall Wusheng in Wuhan; CapitaMall Rizhao in Rizhao; CapitaMall Xuefu in Harbin; Raffles City Chengdu; and Raffles City Ningbo. The Star Vista and Bugis+ in Singapore, which resumed full operations in August after the completion of asset enhancements, have also been well-received by shoppers. We target to open another mall in China this year," Mr Lim added.

“We also added three malls to our portfolio in the quarter under review – CapitaMall 1818 in Wuhan and CapitaMall Xinduxin in Qingdao in China; and Olinas Mall in Tokyo, Japan. We remain bullish on the fundamentals of our shopping mall business, as China continues to promote domestic consumption as a key driver of economic growth. We continue to be on the lookout for suitable acquisition opportunities, to further grow our shopping mall portfolio," Mr Lim said further.