CMT Records 4.6% Higher Distributable Income
The manager of CapitaMall Trust (CMT) announced on 18 April 2012 that CMT had achieved a 4.6 percent increase in distributable income to $76.6 million. This is compared to the $73.2 million achieved for the same period in 2011. Distribution per unit (DPU) came in at $0.023, 0.4 percent higher than 1Q11’s $0.0229. Given CMT’s closing price at the end of trading on 17 April 2012 of $1.835, the higher DPU translates to a distribution yield of around 5.04 percent. James Koh, chairman of CMT’s manager said that CMT’s strong growth was underpinned by additional net property income from newly acquired Iluma and from higher rental rates achieved with new and renewed leases. Koh opines that CMT’s city malls located in central Singapore will continue to do well this year as tourist arrivals are expected to hit around 14.5 million for 2012. In recent news, CMT’s newest operational mall, JCube in the Jurong East area, opened for operations on 2 April 2012 with strong leasing commitment of 99 percent. About 80 percent of the malls net lettable area was operational on the first day of operations.
Significance: In 1Q12, 143 leases were renewed with a positive revision of 6.1 percent over preceding rates. With the economy having taken a surprising turn for the better, higher rental rates of new and renewed leases could spell better prospects for CMT.
ASL Marine Secures $132.4m Worth Of Contracts
ASL Marine announced that it had secured contracts worth $132.4 million for the construction of five vessels. The locally listed marine group said in its media communiqué that the contracts will entail the construction of four 75-tonne tugboats and one platform supply vessel. The vessels will be scheduled for delivery between 4Q13 and 4Q14. Separately, the group’s ship-repair operating arm also secured conversion and upgrading works for two drilling rigs. Ang Kok Tian, chairman and managing director of ASL Marine, said that its ship repair operations have seen robust demand from the offshore oil and gas segments. Ang felt that the project wins affirm the group’s capabilities in providing a wide range of repair and conversion services.
Significance: ASL Marine has built up its ship building order book extensively since the beginning in 2012. Including the latest contract wins, the group has managed to secure $454.5 million worth of new ship building contracts.
Keppel T&T’s Financial Report Card Sees Strong Growth
Keppel Telecommunication and Transportation (Keppel T&T) reported a strong showing in its 1Q12 earnings report card. It recorded revenue of $33.6 million, which was 11 percent higher than 1Q11’s $30.3 million. In tandem with the revenue increase, earnings saw an improvement of 3.5 percent from $13.9 million in 1Q11 to $14.4 million in 1Q12. Operating profits saw the biggest jump with a 48 percent climb to $6.4 million. Keppel T&T attributed the improved performance to its data centre and logistics divisions. On its logistics division, Keppel T&T’s facilities in China and South-east Asia enjoy high occupancy rates. In March 2012, the firm signed a joint venture agreement with the Jilin City government to develop and operate a food logistics hub in the city. Separately, its data centre operations saw a third acquisition of a data centre by its indirectly owned data centre fund Securus Fund. The firm pointed out that Securus Fund intends to continue to acquire more data centres to contribute to the firm’s performance.
Significance: The firm has continually signaled its intent to focus on the expansion of its main business which includes its logistics and data centre operations. Better profitability from any of these two operations will continue to underpin growth at Keppel T&T.
