SHARIAH-COMPLIANT Al-Salām REIT has posted a strong year-on-year (yoy) revenue growth of 7.5% to RM21.38 mil (1Q FY2024: RM19.9 mil) on the back of a net property income (NPI) of RM14.9 mil (1Q FY2024: RM13.7 mil) for its 1Q FY2025 ended March 31, 2025.
The growth was driven by higher rentals from Johor Bahru’s leading shopping mall KOMTAR JBCC following the group’s leverage on strategic focus of asset performance optimisation.
As of 1Q 2025, KOMTAR JBCC recorded an occupancy rate of 64% which marked a return to pre-COVID levels.
Towards this end, the group declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.51 sen in 1Q 2025 (1Q 2024: 0.30 sen).
More specifically, the retail mall segment for Al-Salām REIT contributed strongly to revenue growth by delivering a revenue of RM12.4 mil in 1Q 2025 (1Q 2024: RM10.9 mil) while NPI from the segment grew 21.7% yoy to RM7.3 mil in 1Q 2025 (1Q 2024: RM6.0 mil).
The strong performance was primarily attributed to KOMTAR JBCC’s improvements in rental income and promotional income, following re-configuration of its al-fresco dining zone on the Ground Floor with several F&B tenant openings.
Other assets in the retail portfolio such as @Mart Kempas and Mydin Hypermart Gong Badak also continued to demonstrate resilience as community-focused hypermarkets, providing essential daily provisions.
“2025 will see a strategic focus on reconfiguring KOMTAR JBCC’s layout and tenant mix, thus reflecting our vision for KOMTAR JBCC’s position primarily as a transit-oriented mall,” projected Al-Salām REIT’s CEO Zulhilmy Kamaruddin.
“We expect KOMTAR JBCC to benefit from strong traffic flows once the JB-Singapore RTS Link is completed.”
“We are committed to revitalising KOMTAR JBCC through asset enhancements initiatives (AEIs) which include re-configuration of existing spaces to improve tenant take-up rate and occupancy. This has garnered strong interest from mini-anchors which we expect to translate into sign-ups by end 2025.”
Elsewhere, Al-Salām REIT’s F&B (food & beverage) segment consisting of 42 KFC and Pizza Hut outlets contributed a stable revenue of RM4.4 mil in 1Q 2025 in line with the previous year’s RM4.4 mil which demonstrated stability in rental income despite headwinds.
Due to the triple net lease arrangement for the F&B segment, revenue translated into full NPI at RM4.4 mil with occupancy for the F&B segment remaining at 100%.
Meanwhile, the industrial segment consisting of strategic assets of QSR Brands also posted stable results with a revenue of RM2.9 mil in 1Q 2025 (1Q 2024: RM2.8 mil) which translated to NPI of RM2.9 mil on the back of an occupancy rate of 100%.
Lastly, the group’s office segment consisting of Menara Komtar posted a revenue of RM1.7 mil in 1Q 2025 (1Q 2024: RM1.9 mil) with its NPI stood at RM500,000 (1q FY2024: RM700,000).
At 3.30pm, Al-Salām REIT was up 1 sen or 2.63% to 39 sen with 11,000 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM226 mil. – May 29, 2025
