CapitaLand Retail China Trust's property income dips 5.2% to $33m in Q4

No thanks to the absence of contributions from CapitaMall Anzhen.

Retail woes continued to plague CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) as its net property income (NPI) fell 5.2% YoY to $33m in Q4, mainly due to the absence of contributions from CapitaMall Anzhen.

OCBC Investment Research said higher NPI was clocked at all the assets except Grand Canyon and Qibao.

Meanwhile, revenue fell 4.6% YoY to $54.1m. Distribution per unit (DPU) ended flat at 2.37 cents, which includes it includes a partial distribution of the gain from the disposal of Anzhen.

The whole-year DPU came up to 10.1 cents.

The REIT achieved a positive rental reversion of 4.8% in Q4 and 5.6% in 2017, whilst portfolio occupancy came to 95.4% as at end-2017.

OCBC Investment Research said the management expects Rock Square in Guangzhou to be a significant driver of DPU growth.

OCBC analyst Deborah Ong said, "Investors should also focus on the uplift at CapitaMall Wangjing from the conversion of anchor space into specialty stores."