SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2023 63 GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL CAPITAL A Group-wide Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) exercise is conducted annually to identify key material risks, which include new and emerging risks, that CLCT Group faces in delivering our strategic objectives, our respective mitigating measures and any opportunities that we can leverage on. For more details regarding Risk Management, please refer to the CLCT Annual Report 2023 page 104 to 109. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE In FY 2023, CLCT reported a gross revenue increase of 3.3% year-on-year (YoY) to RMB1,912.5 million, while net property income (NPI) rose 5.3% to RMB1,293.7 million. This growth was driven by the improved performance of CLCT’s retail portfolio, despite lower contributions from our new economy assets. In Singapore Dollar (SGD) terms, CLCT’s financials were impacted by foreign currency translation arising from the strength of the SGD against the Renminbi (RMB) as well as the rising interest rate environment. This translated into FY 2023 NPI of S$246.7 million and distributable income of S$113.9 million. Distribution per Unit for this financial year stood at 6.74 Singapore cents. Our disciplined approach to capital management enables us to maintain a healthy financial position and stable cost of debt among China focused S-REITs. During the year, we pioneered a landmark initiative as the first S-REIT to launch FTZ offshore bonds. Due in 2026, the RMB600 million bonds have a three-year tenor, offering a coupon rate of 3.8% per annum. This allowed us to achieve approximately 100 basis points (bps) in interest savings through early refinancing of our existing SGD-denominated offshore debt. The bonds broadened our funding sources, while optimising our capital structure to fuel long-term growth. In 2023, we expanded our RMBdenominated facilities to 20%, an improvement from 13% as at 31 December 2022. Having refinanced our 2023 loans ahead of schedule, we have also secured the refinancing for borrowings due in 2024 well in advance of their maturity dates. As part of risk management, we will continue to look at ways to optimise our onshore and offshore debt mix to increase our natural hedge while strengthening overall financial position. At the close of 2023, around 82%31 of our total term loans were on fixed rates, providing certainty on interest expenses. Interest coverage ratio of 3.3 times32 remained well above the regulatory requirement of 2.5 times33 while gearing came in at 41.5%34. Should the net proceeds from the divestment of CapitaMall Shuangjing be used to pare down debt, CLCT’s gearing would have improved to approximately 40% as at 31 December 2023. In addition, we maintained a well-staggered debt maturity profile and our average term to maturity stood at 3.5 years. As testament to CLCT’s increasing green focus, we significantly raised the proportion of our SustainabilityLinked Loans from 13% of our total debt in FY 2022 to 31% this financial year. 31 Excludes Money Market Lines and onshore RMB loans. The fixed to floating ratio rose from 71% to 82%, reflecting the impact of the FTZ Bonds and Cross Currency Interest Rate Swap (CCIRS) on the total debt composition. 32 Ratio is calculated by dividing the trailing 12 months EBITDA over the trailing 12 months interest expense (exclude finance lease interest expenses under FRS 116) in accordance with MAS guidelines. 33 With effect from 1 January 2022, S-REITs are required to have a minimum ICR of 2.5 times before they are allowed to increase their leverage to beyond the prevailing 45% limit (up to 50%). 34 In accordance with the Property Funds Appendix, the aggregate leverage is calculated based on the proportionate share of total borrowings over deposited properties.
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