KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 22): CapitaLand Malaysia Trust (KL:CLMT) said it will continue to seek acquisition opportunities in industrial and logistic assets across Penang, Johor and the Klang Valley this year.

“We have been actively managing our balance sheet to create room for acquisitions and if we have a choice, we would be keen to deploy some of our capital again in the industrial and logistics area,” said Tan Choon Siang, the chief executive officer of the trust's manager, CapitaLand Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd.

“We are looking at some opportunities so hopefully we are able to close them in 2025,” Tan said in a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

As at Dec 31, 2024, CLMT’s gearing ratio was slightly lower at 41.3% compared to 42.4% a year ago — remaining below the regulatory limit of 50%.

Citing synergistic benefits with its parent company CapitaLand Group, the trust said it remains keen to expand its presence in Johor.

“CapitaLand, as you guys are aware, we have a big portfolio in Singapore. If there is any movement of investment or relocation of existing industry activity from Singapore to Johor, we have that visibility. So, capturing a market share in Johor is really part of our greater Singapore strategy,” said Tan.

Acquisitions will largely be in existing ready properties, said Tan, explaining that engaging in new developments is less beneficial to investors because the capital deployed will then be stuck in the development stage, generating no returns to unit holders during the period.

Since December 2022, CLMT has made four acquisitions related to industrial and logistics, and one retail asset, namely Queensbay Mall.

The REIT has also completed four asset enhancement initiatives in 2024, all surpassing their internal investment targets and exceeding their 7% cost of equity.

CLMT’s share price closed one sen or 1.5% higher at 67.5 sen on Wednesday, giving the REIT a market capitalisation of RM1.94 billion.