RESEARCH ALERT-OCBC upgrades A-REIT to buy from hold
SINGAPORE, Oct 18 (Reuters) - OCBC Investment Research upgraded Singapore's Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) , which owns industrial properties, to buy from hold and raised its share-price target to S$2.23 from S$2.17.
STATEMENT: OCBC raised its fiscal 2012 forecasts for A-REIT by 2.4-5.7 percent to reflect its strong second-quarter results.
A-REIT said total amount available for distribution increased 14.1 percent to S$70.5 million in the second quarter, helped by higher gross revenue from completion of investment projects. [ID:nSNZ6Vdch3]
"A-REIT continued to deliver during the quarter, despite the current uncertain economic environment," as its occupancy rates improved and it achieved positive rental reversion, OCBC said.
At 0138 GMT, shares of A-REIT were down 0.75 percent at S$1.98. They have fallen about 4.2 percent since the start of the year.
source: Reuters