Macquarie CountryWide Trust (MCW) said the value of its portfolio had decreased by 10% to $5.4 billion as at 31 December 2008. MCW explained that value increased by 1.4% due to income growth, but fell 11.4% due to softer capitalisation rates.

Macquarie CountryWide Trust’s chief executive officer Steven Sewell said that despite challenging market conditions, the trust’s properties continue to record solid underlying performance.

He said global portfolio occupancy was at 96.3% with positive rental rate growth of 6.8%, after more than 430 leasing transactions during the six months to 31 December 2008.

MCW said revaluations were undertaken on all properties in the trust’s portfolio, with independent revaluations carried out on 167 properties, or 57% of the portfolio by value.

The trust confirmed it remains in compliance with all trust level debt and derivative covenants.

Mr Sewell said MCW’s focus remained on an active portfolio and asset management strategy.

"We are continuing to monitor market conditions and, in particular, are working closely with retailers to sustain occupancy levels at all properties across the portfolio," he said.

At 1413 AEDT, Macquarie CountryWide Trust securities were flat at 19c.