DASIN Retail Trust will not be renewing commercial and property management agreements for four of its properties – Shiqi Metro Mall, Xiaolan Metro Mall, Ocean Metro Mall and Dasin E-Colour – upon their expiry on Dec 31, 2024.
On Wednesday (Dec 11), the trustee-manager said its board has resolved to terminate the agreements with the malls’ rental management companies although its minority directors, Zhang Zhencheng and his alternate director Zhang Zhongming, had not voted on the resolutions to do so.
This was because other members of the trustee-manager’s board believed that these minority directors were “conflicted” due to “a significant amount of outstanding receivables in respect of the properties”, including those from the minority directors’ associates.
Such receivables do not include services supposed to be performed by the malls’ current commercial manager.
The malls’ current commercial and property managers are furthermore associates of the minority directors, added the trustee-manager.
Units of Dasin Retail Trust were unchanged at S$0.033 as at 1.43 pm on Wednesday, after the announcement.
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On Oct 15 this year, the trustee-manager said it would terminate commercial and property management agreements for Shunde Metro Mall and Tanbei Metro Mall upon their expiry at the end of the same month. Similarly, the board’s minority directors had not voted on the resolution to do so.
This came after the termination of agreements for Doumen Metro Mall was announced on Jun 21.
Based on its financial statements for the first six months ended June 2023, Dasin Retail Trust’s current trade payables to related parties stood at S$2.8 million, down from S$3.8 million as at end-December 2022.
Amounts due under trade payables (related parties) comprised property management and commercial management fees payable, as well as the reimbursement of expenses.
Under property operating expenses, the trust’s property management and commercial management fees stood at S$640,000, down 32 per cent on the year from S$947,000 for the six months ended June 2022.
Dasin Retail Trust’s second-quarter financial statements for the period ended June 2023 were prepared on a going-concern basis.
At the time of their release in August 2024, the trustee-manager said it was unable to provide an independent valuation of the retail malls held by the trust as it had not been provided with the assets’ rent rolls.
