Shares of CapitaRetail China Trust rose 3.9 per cent on Friday after the company posted a near-10 per cent hike in income for the fourth quarter.
The shopping mall owner said it is aiming to at least match the result this year and it is on the lookout for acquisitions.
CapitaRetail China Trust owns nine shopping malls in China, which it estimates will become the world’s second biggest consumer market by 2020.
CapitaRetail hiked the rents it charges shopowners by 11.5 per cent last year, almost three times the cost of living.
It said it hopes to repeat the result in 2012.
Tony Tan, CEO of CapitaRetail China Trust Management Ltd, said: “We are still proactively trying to look at our tenant and brand mix, so it eventually depends on the targeted tenant that would come in. Of course we’ll like to do the best as much as possible, whether we’ll remain at 11.5 per cent, we’ll see.”
While residential property firms in China struggle with government efforts to cool the market, CapitaRetail China Trust and other shopping mall owners are reaping the rewards of increases of more than 10 per cent in retail spending in the past five years.
Capita-Retail’s distribution per unit rose 10.1 per cent on-year in the fourth quarter to 2.28 cents.
It also announced a 4.1 per cent rise in its DPU for the whole 2011, mainly attributable to organic growth.
It said that growing existing assets will remain its key strategy.
Mr Tan said: “We (are) also looking at any potential enhancement work to our existing mall; there are already some plans subject to approval from authorities…of course we are always on the lookout for new acquisitions into our portfolio.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Jan 2012