Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) has posted an 8.8 per cent on-year increase in its fourth quarter distribution per unit of 2.35 cents, the highest it has ever paid out.
This follows the re-opening of its biggest asset.
Causeway Point registered net property income of S$13.3 million, an increase of 95.6 per cent. This helped lift FCT’s gross revenue to S$117.9 million and and net property income to S$82.6 million.
For the full year, FCT recognised a revaluation surplus of S$97.2 million, of which around S$59.2 million came from Causeway Point. Total DPU for the financial year is 8.32 cents.
FCT also recently acquired Bedok Point and expects the mall to add S$7 million to its net property income.
While more suburban malls are expected to open, FCT remains confident about attracting tenants and shoppers.
Chew Tuan Chiong, CEO of Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management, said: “Of course competition will always be felt but the dynamics of the suburban malls are such that they cater to the non-discretionary spending of a captive audience, the people that live within a three to five kilometre radius.
“So the human traffic is always there, the expenditure is very stable. So as a result, with the population growth and increasing affluence, the suburban malls have been doing extremely well in the last decade.
“The REITs are always performing better, especially in Singapore where the underlying assets of a REIT is real estate and the value of the real estate is stable and seems to be rising most of the time. At the same time, the REITs have a very stable income. Our leases are mostly between three to four or five years even. So whatever happens, the income stream will continue and the dividend payout is always much better than say, fixed deposits.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 21 Oct 2011