3 Things You Need to Know About Capitaland Mall Trust Right Now
Capitaland Mall Trust (SGX: C38U), or CMT, is Singapore’s largest retail real estate investment trust (REIT). CMT also owns a stake in CapitaLand Retail China Trust (SGX: AU8U), the first China shopping mall REIT to be listed here. The two trusts are part of property giant, CapitaLand Limited (SGX: C31).
Recently, CMT released presentation slides for “CapitaLand & REITs Corporate Day” that happened in Bangkok, Thailand.
Let’s take a look at three interesting aspects of the presentation.
Leading the Retail Front
CMT currently owns 16 shopping malls located strategically in the suburban areas and the downtown core of Singapore.
The 16 malls under its portfolio are Tampines Mall, Junction 8, Funan, IMM Building, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Sembawang Shopping Centre, JCube, Raffles City Singapore (40.0% interest), Lot One Shoppers’ Mall, 90 out of 91 strata lots in Bukit Panjang Plaza, The Atrium@Orchard, Clarke Quay, Bugis+, Westgate (30.0% interest) and Bedok Mall.
Funan is currently under re-development and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019. You can learn more about Funan’s transformation here.
As at 30 June 2017, CMT’s portfolio had about 2,900 leases with local and international retailers, with a strong occupancy of 98.6%.
The Portfolio Growth Thus Far
Source: CMT Presentation Slides
CMT started with just three malls – Tampines Mall, Junction 8 and Funan – in its portfolio when it went public in 2002. In a span of 13 years, from 2002 to 2015, the portfolio had grown more than five times.
Over those years, it had also divested malls such as Hougang Plaza and Rivervale Mall to recycle capital.
Location, Location, Location
Source: CMT Presentation Slides
All of CMT’s malls are located near MRT stations, allowing a sustained flow of traffic to the malls and giving shoppers the convenience of “picking-and-going”, amid the e-commerce challenge.
For the financial year ended 31 December 2016, excluding Funan, CMT saw 347.4 million shoppers coming through its malls. With the population size expected to increase in Singapore, this number will only grow.
