Ascott Reit
Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) has agreed to sell six rental housing properties in Japan for $52.6 million.
They are located in the cities of Kyoto, Saga and Sendai and house 388 units.
The sale is in line with Ascott Reit's strategy to unlock the underlying value of the properties, which offer limited growth, and redeploy the proceeds to other higher-yielding assets, the Reit said .
Moreover, these properties are more than 10 years old and are located in regional cities of Japan where there is limited potential upside, said Ascott Reit manager.
"Given the current strong investor demand for rental housing properties, it is an opportune time for Ascott Reit to divest these properties at an attractive price," it noted.
The sale price is 12.5 per cent above the valuation of the properties as at June 30. After providing for taxes and transaction related expenses such as professional fees, the estimated net gain is about $3.4 million.
Del Monte Pacific
Mainboard-listed Del Monte Pacific pared its net loss to US$12 million (S$17 million) from US$21.9 million in the first quarter.
The Philippines-based company achieved a 6 per cent rise in sales to US$472.8 million for the three months to July 31.
The group recorded significant growth in Ebitda - a measure of operating profit - of US$17.3 million and achieved a turnaround from an operating loss of US$12.1 million in the same period last year.
The net loss was attributed to a weak quarter from US subsidiary Del Monte Foods, whose first quarter is traditionally its weakest.
Loss per share narrowed to 0.74 US cent from 1.69 US cents previously.
Oceanus Group
Oceanus Group wants to downgrade its mainboard listing to the Catalist board, saying that this will provide it with a more suitable platform for the listing and trading of its shares and allow it to attract more investments.
Its directors believe that the junior board will provide a more conducive platform for the group to raise funds and make acquisitions and disposals in the future.
Oceanus shares were last traded at 0.8 cent. Shares of mainboard-listed companies will be required to have a minimum trading price of 20 cents in the future.
