Office landlord CapitaCommercial Trust said its distribution per unit for the second quarter came in at 1.97 Singapore cents.
When adjusted for its rights issue, the DPU is 15.2 percent higher than the 1.71 cents declared for the year-ago period.
This brings CCT’s first half DPU to 3.9 cents, 17.1 per cent more than the 3.33 cents DPU announced for the same period last year after adjusting for the rights units.
For the second quarter, distributable income rose 15.9 per cent to S$55.7 million.
Net property income for the April to June period rose marginally by 1.3 per cent to S$74.2 million.
CCT said higher rental contribution from its properties and lower property operating expenses contributed to the strong distributable income growth.
Lower interest cost as a result of reduced borrowings and lower expenses also boosted its distributable income.
CCT’s CEO Lynette Leong said its Grade A offices have attained 100 per cent occupancy, up from 99.1 per cent in the last quarter.
In the second quarter, CCT also renewed and signed new leases with tenants including Accenture, Credit Agricole and Northern Trust
Ms Leong also noted that Singapore’s office market is improving with leasing activity gaining momentum, corresponding to Singapore’s strong economic growth
CCT is positive that the continued growth in office demand, in tandem with Singapore’s economic development, will augur well for the office market.
Unitholders can expect to receive their semi-annual DPU payout of 3.9 cents on or around Friday, August 27.
Meanwhile, an independent valuation of CCT’s portfolio of investment properties showed a slight decrease in its value.
As at June 30, CCT said an independent valuation of the Trust’s portfolio of investment properties showed a decrease of S$25.7 million or 0.5 per cent in its market value compared to its last valuation in December.
The value of CCT’s investment properties is now S$5.5 billion and its total assets is now worth S$6 billion.
In a separate statement, CCT said it’s making an adjustment to the conversion price of its convertible bonds due in 2013.
The adjustment is made in view of a distribution being paid to unitholders.
CCT said the indicative conversion price is S$1.7778 per unit, taking into account the 3.9 cents DPU for the first half this year.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 21 Jul 2010