CapitaMall Trust (CMT) announced recently that it will get involved in greenfield development projects to raise its distribution per unit.
CMT also announced that this will be on top of the company’s existing strategy involving assets enhancement, active leasing as well as selective acquisition of yield accretive projects.
The massive influx of shoppers at its malls during the first half of 2010 has resulted in positive growth for the company, due to its lower operating expenses and higher rental rates.
The company’s distribution per unit in the second quarter increased 7.5 percent on-year to 2.29 cents, while distributable income climbed 7.5 percent on-year to $73 million.
Although its net property income rose 5.3 percent to $98.7 million, the company claimed it planned to increase its DPU further through new channels.
“Because of our size, we do have an added advantage, because under the property fund guidelines, we can do greenfield development projects of up to 10 per cent of our asset size. So, we have a capacity of up to $800 million to participate in development projects for shopping malls. I think this is something that can potentially become a fourth engine of profit growth for us,” said Simon Ho, chief executive of CMT.