Gross revenue for 3Q14 was up 3.1% year-on-year to $41.2 million and net property income improved 2.4% to $29.1 million. The growth in revenue and net property income was supported by rental step-up of current leases, better rental rates achieved for new and renewed leases and the maiden contribution from Changi City Point, which FCT acquired on 6 June 2014.
FCT’s financial position remains strong with gearing level at 30.2% as at 30 June 2014. Total borrowings increased to $739 million from $589 million, after FCT drew down on an unsecured term loan of $150 million on 16 June 2014 to part-finance the acquisition of Changi City Point. Four out of the six assets, representing 67% of FCT’s portfolio value, remain unencumbered. The all-in weighted cost of borrowings in 3Q14 was 2.49%, about 34 basis-points lower compared with 2.83%1 in 2Q14. The weighted average debt maturity stood at 2.75 years.
FCT’s portfolio occupancy improved to 98.5% from 96.8% in the preceding quarter. Bedok Point’s occupancy improved to 99.3% from 77.0% in March, after several new tenants, including the anchor tenant Harvey Norman, opened in 3Q14. Occupancy at the other five malls remained relatively stable during the quarter. Overall shopper traffic in 3Q14 (excluding Changi City Point) improved 2.7% quarter-on-quarter. Causeway Point registered the strongest shopper traffic growth of 9% over the previous quarter while Northpoint saw a 2% increase in its shopper traffic.
During 3Q14, 41 leases accounting for 33,623 square feet or 3.1% of FCT’s total net lettable area were renewed. Causeway Point achieved positive rental reversion of 8.1% for 6.3% of its total net lettable area. Northpoint, YewTee Point and Anchorpoint achieved positive average rental reversion of between 7% and 8% during the quarter, while Bedok Point registered a 3% negative rental reversion. For the entire portfolio, average rental renewals in 3Q14 registered a 7.8% increase over the preceding leases contracted 3 years ago.
Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, Chief Executive Officer of FCAM, said, “We are pleased that FCT has delivered another good set of results and the DPU of 3.022 cents is a new-high for a quarter. The addition of Changi City Point strengthens FCT’s presence in the suburban retail market here and it is DPU-accretive.
We expect FCT’s portfolio occupancy and rental rates to remain sustainable. The outlook for the retail market is expected to remain stable, given the trends in the growing median household income and sustained low unemployment rate.”
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