Singapore mainboard-listed retail REIT, CapitaLand China Retail Trust, announced on 13 April that it has achieved a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.71 Singapore cents for its 1Q 2016, an increase of 2.7% higher from the 2.64 cents for the corresponding period in 2015.

Gross revenue in SGD terms for the period was SGD55.5 million, a 1.9% increase from the SGD54.5 million a year ago. However when taken in RMB terms (RMB6.2 million), it represents a growth of 2.5%.

“This was mainly due to rental growth from the multi-tenanted malls, and partially offset by lower revenue from CapitaMall Wuhu which is currently undergoing tenancy adjustments to achieve a more optimal tenant trade mix”, said the REIT.

Net property income (NPI) for the quarter was SGD36.7 million, 6.2% higher than the SGD34.5 million in 1Q 2015 while distributable income came in at SGD23.2 million, an increase of 4.5% over the SGD22.2 in 2015.

Portfolio occupancy was 94.6% at the end of the quarter while weighted average lease expiry (WALE) by total rental income and net lettable areas was 5.9 and 8.1 years respectively at 31 March 2016.

“We continued to refresh our malls and tenant mix to stay ahead of our shoppers’ increasingly sophisticated aspirations and needs”, said Tony Tan, CEO of the REIT’s manager, in a statement on the results.

“Going forward, we will continue to strengthen the retail experience in our malls through asset enhancement initiatives and optimising the tenant mix”, he added.

Units of CapitaLand China Retail Trust finished flat on the Singapore Exchange from the previous trading day at SGD1.46.