Early yesterday morning (21 January 2021), blue-chip REIT CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (SGX:C38U), released its financial results for the fourth quarter, as well as for the full-year 2020 ended 31 December 2020.
Before I discuss the REIT’s latest financial performance (both on a quarter-on-quarter, as well as on a year-on-year basis), its portfolio occupancy and debt profile (on a year-on-year basis), as well as its distribution per unit to unitholders (on a quarter-on-quarter as well as on a year-on-year basis), do take note that this is the first quarter the REIT (previously known as CapitaLand Mall Trust) is reporting its financial results as an enlarged entity, and as such, it includes contributions from the following properties from the now-delisted CapitaLand Commercial Trust (7 in Singapore and 2 in Germany):
Singapore:
- Asia Square Tower 2
- CapitaGreen
- Capital Tower
- Six Battery Road
- 21 Collar Quay
- Raffles City Singapore
- One George Street
Germany:
- Gallileo
- Main Airport Center
Financial Results (Q4 FY2019 vs. Q4 FY2020, and FY2019 vs. FY2020)
In this section, you will find the REIT’s results both on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), as well as on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis:
Q4 FY2019 vs. Q4 FY2020:
| Q4 FY2019 | Q4 FY2020 | % Variation | |
| Gross Revenue (S$’mil) | $203.4m | $276.5m | +36.0% |
| Property Operating Expenses (S$’mil) | $62.6% | $84.6m | +35.1% |
| Net Property Income (S$’mil) | $140.7m | $191.9m | +36.4% |
| Distributable Income to Unitholders (S$’mil) | $114.6m | $145.4m | +26.8% |
Overall, on a q-o-q basis, the results was a much improved one, due to contributions from the office properties from CapitaLand Commercial Trust following the completion of the merger on 21 October 2020.
Excluding the contributions from properties in CapitaLand Commercial Trust, the REIT’s gross revenue was down by $28.3m on a q-o-q basis, due to rental waivers granted to the REIT’s tenants (as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.)
FY2019 vs. FY2020:
| FY2019 | FY2020 | % Variation | |
| Gross Revenue (S$’mil) | $786.7m | $745.2m | -5.3% |
| Property Operating Expenses (S$’mil) | $228.5m | $232.5m | +1.7% |
| Net Property Income (S$’mil) | $558.2m | $512.7m | -8.1% |
| Distributable Income to Unitholders (S$’mil) | $441.6m | $369.4m | -16.4% |
On a y-o-y basis, the REIT’s results was a weaker one – again this is attributed to rental waivers granted to the REIT’s retail tenants as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Excluding contributions from the properties in CapitaLand Commercial Trust, on a y-o-y basis, its gross revenue was $143.0m lower due to rental waivers, along with lower occupancy in its retail malls as well as lower rental rates on new and renewed leases.
My Thoughts: The latest set of results (both on a q-o-q as well as on a y-o-y basis) was within my expectations.
With Singapore currently in Phase 3 of the safe transition, with most of the retail businesses being able to resume their business operations once again, and shopper traffic returning (I note that shopper traffic have recovered to 67.9% of the level recorded a year ago, and tenant sales have also recovered to 94.5% of the level recorded a year ago), I am of confident of a further recovery in the months ahead (this is provided if Singapore does not see another wave of outbreak in the community), with its q-o-q results in the coming financial year 2021 an improved compared to the current financial year (i.e. 2020) under review.
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust’s Portfolio Occupancy Profile (as at 31 December 2020)
In this section, let us take a look at the REIT’s portfolio occupancy profile as at 31 December 2020, broken down by their property type:
Retail: Consisting of Tampines Mall, Junction 8, Funan (Retail), IMM Building, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Raffles City Singapore (Retail), Lot One Shoppers’ Mall, The Atrium@Orchard (Retail), Clarke Quay, Bugis+, Bedok Mall, Westgate, along with JCube and Bukit Panjang Plaza
Office: Consisting of Asia Square Tower 2, CapitaGreen, Capital Tower, Six Battery Road, 21 Collar Quay, One George Street, Raffles City Tower, Funan (Office), The Atrium@Orchard (Office) in Singapore, as well as Gallileo and Main Airport Center in Germany
Integrated Development: Consisting of Raffles City Singapore, Funan, Plaza Singapura and The Atrium@Orchard
| As at 31 December 2020 | |
| Retail: Portfolio Occupancy WALE (by Gross Rental Income) | 98.0% 1.8 years |
| Office: Portfolio Occupancy WALE (by Gross Rental Income) | 94.9% 2.9 years |
| Integrated Development: Portfolio Occupancy WALE (by Gross Rental Income) | 97.8% 4.7 years |
My Thoughts: I am happy to note that the REIT have managed to maintain its portfolio occupancy rate (for its retail, office, as well as integrated development properties) at above 90.0%.
For retail properties, at 98.0%, it is way above the Singapore retail occupancy rate of 90.4% for Q4 2020 based on URA’s island-wide retail space vacancy rate.
For its office properties, the occupancy rate of its Singapore properties are better compared with the Core CBD occupancy rate (95.1% vs. 93.8%), while the occupancy rate of its Germany properties are also better compared to the Frankfurt market (94.0% vs. 93.1%.)
Debt Profile of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (FY2019 vs. FY2020)
Finally, let us take a look at some of the key statistics relating to the REIT’s debt profile on a y-o-y basis (i.e. FY2019 vs. FY2020):
| FY2019 | FY2020 | |
| Aggregate Leverage (%) | 32.9% | 40.6% |
| Interest Coverage Ratio (times) | 4.7x | 3.8x |
| Average Term to Debt Maturity (years) | 5.0 years | 4.1 years |
| Average Cost of Debt (%) | 3.2% | 2.8% |
My Thoughts: The only positive, as far as y-o-y comparison of the REIT’s debt profile is concerned, is the average cost of debt – it improved by 0.4 percentage points (pp) to 2.8%.
No doubt its aggregate leverage have shot up by 7.7pp to 40.6%, but it is still a safe distance away from the regulatory limit of 50.0%.
All in all, I find the REIT’s latest debt profile to be pretty resilient still.
Distribution Per Unit to Unitholders (Q4 FY2019 vs. Q4 FY2020, and FY2019 vs. FY2020)
Q4 FY2019 vs. Q4 FY2020:
| Q4 FY2019 | Q4 FY2020 | % Variation | |
| Distribution Per Unit (S$’cents/unit) | 3.11 cents | 2.63 cents | -15.4% |
The amount declared for Q4 FY2020 is inclusive of a clean-up distribution of 0.89 cents/unit for the period between 01 and 20 October 2020, which was paid out on 19 November 2020.
For the period between 21 October and 31 December 2020, the distribution per unit was 1.74 cents/unit. The ex-dividend date will be on 28 January 2021, record date on 29 January 2021, and payout date on 09 March 2021.
FY2019 vs. FY2020:
| FY2019 | FY2020 | % Variation | |
| Distribution Per Unit (S$’cents/unit) | 11.97 cents | 8.69 cents | -27.4% |
On a full-year basis, the REIT’s distribution per unit was down by 27.4%.
Moving forward, do take note that from financial year 2021 onwards, the REIT will be paying out a distribution to its unitholders on a half-yearly basis instead of on a quarterly basis.
In Conclusion
On the whole, I am happy with the REIT’s latest set of results. Moving forward, in the financial year ahead, I am confident of its financial results recording an improved one on a q-o-q basis with shopper traffic gradually returning, and tenant sales almost back to pre-Covid levels (provided if there is no second wave of community cases here in Singapore.)
Another thing to note – some of you may be concerned by the occupancy rate of the REIT’s office properties, due to some companies deciding to downscale in light of the continuation of the working-from-home scheme. Personally, I am of the opinion that CBD offices (where the REIT’s office properties are) will always be in demand. However, I agree that in the near-term, its performance (in terms of its portfolio occupancy rate and revenue contribution) may suffer from some weakness.
With that, I have come to the end of my share on the REIT’s latest set of results. I hope you find the share useful and here’s wishing you a great weekend ahead!
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Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a unitholder of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust.
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