CapitaLand Mall Trust - Phillip Securities 2019-01-24: Still-weak Reversions Despite Underlying Recovery In Tenant Sales

CAPITALAND MALL TRUST (SGX:C38U)

CapitaLand Mall Trust - Still-weak Reversions Despite Underlying Recovery In Tenant Sales

CAPITALAND MALL TRUST (SGX:C38U)'s FY18 NPI and DPU in line with our forecast. Higher revenue in 4Q18 4Q18 from remaining 70% stake of Westgate acquired on 1 Nov 2018.
Slight recovery in tenant sales, with recovery in key trade categories.
Stable portfolio occupancy amidst AEI works at Westgate and Tampines Mall.
Still-weak rental reversions. Higher gearing and shorter term to maturity now with debt consolidated from Infinity Mall Trust (which holds Westgate).

Tenant sales ticked up slightly by +0.5% y-o-y in FY18 (no change y-o-y in FY17), with recovery in more trade categories this year (just four categories with negative sales growth in FY18 versus eight categories in FY17).
Categories that turned around to clock in positive tenant sales growth in FY18 include Food & Beverage, Fashion, and Beauty & Health – the top three trade categories by gross rental income (GRI).

Occupancy was maintained at 99.2%, with > 99% occupancy achieved at its top four malls (by GRI) – Plaza Singapura, IMM, Bugis Junction, Tampines Mall, in spite of the AEI works that were done at Tampines Mall and Westgate.
Tenant retention rate was also stable at 82.3% (FY17: 79.3%).

On a portfolio basis, rental reversions barely moved a percentage point in FY18, despite the underlying recovery in tenant sales growth.

Consolidation of debt from Infinity Mall Trust (which holds Westgate) has now resulted in a shorter term to maturity of 4.4 years (3Q18: 5.2 years) and a higher leverage of 34.2% (3Q18: 31.7%).
In addition, Westgate has now been pledged as collateral – all other assets are still unencumbered.

AEIs at Tampines Mall (completed Oct 2018) and Westgate (completed Dec 2018) could bring in higher footfall and tenant sales – and this is starting to be evident in the turnaround in rental reversions recorded in FY18 (positive rental reversions for both malls compared to negative reversions in FY17).
Another near-term growth catalyst would be the upcoming completion of Funan which is slated to open in June 2019. As at end-December, 80% of leases at Funan have been pre-committed or are under active negotiations.

Tara WONG Phillip Securities Research | https://www.stocksbnb.com/ 2019-01-24

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