KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): CapitaLand Malaysia Trust’s (CLMT) net property income (NPI) for the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2021 fell 29.7% to RM69.9 million from RM99.5 million in the same period last year.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, it said this was mainly attributed to lower gross rental income and higher rental relief for eligible tenants, which resulted from more frequent and extended movement controls during the period compared with the previous year.

It said distributable income for the period was RM21.3 million and distribution per unit (DPU) was 1.01 sen.

CapitaLand Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM) chief executive officer Low Peck Chen said the operational challenges arising from the various safety measures imposed from June 2021 continue to affect CLMT’s financial performance and tenants’ business operations.

“We continued to extend targeted rental relief to support eligible tenants to help alleviate their cash flow and operating difficulties,” she said.

He said portfolio occupancy as at Sept 30, 2021 was 81.6% while shopper traffic for the nine-month period was 29.5% lower year-on-year.

She said portfolio shopper traffic began to register improvements from September 2021 following the resumption of dine-in services.

“We expect this trend to continue as domestic tourism activities and interstate travel picks up in the following quarter,” she added.