CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) has reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.85 cents for its 1Q 2020, a decrease of 70.5% over the DPU of 2.88 cents for 1Q 2019.

The REIT saw net property income (NPI) of SGD148.3 million for the period.

This is an increase of 5.9% over the SGD140.1 million in 1Q 2019.

The improvement was mainly attributed to the opening of Funan in June 2019, partially offset by the amortisation of rental rebates granted to tenants affected by COVID-19.

CMT has retained SGD69.6 million of taxable income in 1Q 2020, given the COVID-19 outbreak.

This led to a distributable income of approximately SGD31.6 million for the quarter, 70.3% lower than 1Q 2019.

“The impact from COVID-19 is expected to deepen in 2Q 2020 due to the ‘circuit breaker’ period, during which approximately 25% of the portfolio’s tenants are operating”, said Tony Tan, CEO of the REIT’s manager.

“As solidarity is key to overcoming the unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, we seek unitholders’ support while we work closely with our tenants to build greater resilience for our retail ecosystem”, he added.

To date, CMT has committed a rental relief package totalling approximately SGD114 million.

This translates into 100% rental rebates in April and May 2020 for almost all the retail tenants, inclusive of the value of property tax rebates.

As at 31 March 2020, CMT’s average cost of debt was 3.2% and aggregate leverage was 33%.

Information from CMT’s latest results have been updated into the Singapore REITs table.