(Stocks Discussion) SGX: CapitaLand Mall Trust [SGX: C38U]?

Seems a pretty trendy question especially with the Funan Mall opening up very recently! Full disclaimer: I'm also a personal investor in CMT stock and I'm definitely long on this stock, having held it for many years and attended their recent AGM recently as well.

By the way, let me digress abit, I love how RICE Media writer, Pan Jie, describes Capitaland Malls in Singapore which makes me an ardent believe in the CMT Stock: "There are 3 types of malls in Singapore.

1. The first is the Orchard Mall, filled with Tai-tais, TWGs, and price-tags which can blind you.

2. The second is the Strata Mall; a little shabby, a little eclectic, with the forlorn air of an impending en-bloc.

3. The last is the Capitaland Mall, designed for mass appeal and precision-engineered for profit.

Between our half-baked descriptions, there’s some measure of truth to be found—every mall resembles every other mall.

CMT is really designed for profit maximisation and it's tenant mix is pretty much the same across most of it's malls. "There’s a McDonalds squatting by the entrance, a Gongcha in the basement, and a flock of claw machines high above. On the second floor, there’s either a MUJI, a Uniqlo or a Challenger selling power banks on discount. In B2, you will walk past a Boost Juice, a GNC, a supermarket, and probably a Breadtalk. After a while, the different malls blend into one." I guess the important one is to find out how the CMT stock is doing by focusing on a few key metrics I feel are most important to assess retail stocks:

1. Lease expiry and occupancy

2. Increasing DPU over the years

3. Market sentiment

You can find out more about these movements in these two images below...

For point 1 and 3: Occupancy and Market sentiment (shopper traffic)

For point 2: on increasing DPU

The main concern now with the stock is that it is currently at a high and many analysts claim to say that it is currently over-valued. However, I feel that as Singapore's oldest REIT and it's first actually, this should be a stable one which is set to grow for the long run provided Singapore's economy maintains resilient and not be hit by an overly severe recession which cuts spending back severely. In fact, if that happens, I will definitely double down on more CMT stock as well given how the recent AEI (asset enhancement initiatives) have been pretty successful with Funan and also sometime back with Bugis Plus.