Stocks to watch: MCT, SPH, BreadTalk, Keppel DC Reit, KORE, Rex, AA Reit

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their shares on Wednesday:

Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT): Higher contribution from its assets - VivoCity, Mapletree Business City (MBC) I, PSA Building and Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront Mapletree Commercial Trust - boosted MCT's second-quarter performance, all except for Mapletree Anson. For the three months ended Sept 30, the commercial landlord posted a distribution per unit of 2.32 Singapore cents, up from 2.27 cents a year ago. Gross revenue rose 1.9 per cent to S$112 million, while net property income added 1.7 per cent to S$87.7 million.

It called for a trading halt on Wednesday morning, before announcing its intention to raise gross proceeds of no less than S$902.3 million through a private placement and preferential offering. The private placement will have an issue price of between S$2.240 and S$2.280 per new unit, while the preferential offering's issue price is between S$2.200 and S$2.240 per new unit. MCT units closed one cent lower at S$2.34 on Tuesday.

Singapore Press Holdings (SPH): It has partnered real estate asset manager Bridge C Capital to set up a fund focused on investing in aged care and healthcare assets in Japan. SPH, which publishes The Business Times, will invest seed equity of up to S$50 million in the fund, which will acquire assets such as senior housing, nursing homes and medical office buildings in Japan. Bridge C will be the fund's asset manager, focusing on marketing, deal sourcing and management expertise. SPH shares closed five Singapore cents or 2.38 per cent higher at S$2.15 on Tuesday.

BreadTalk Group: The mainboard-listed food and beverage player has obtained regulatory approval for its buyout of food operator Food Junction, paving the way for the group to become the third-largest food-court operator in Singapore. In a statement released on Tuesday evening, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore said it had found that the combined market share of the parties post-merger remains below 20 per cent, "considerably lower" than larger food-court operators such as NTUC Kopitiam. BreadTalk Group shares closed flat at S$0.60 on Tuesday.

Keppel DC Reit: The real estate investment trust on Tuesday posted a third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.93 Singapore cents, up 4.3 per cent from 1.85 cents for the same period a year earlier. The higher distributable income was due mainly to higher contributions from its Singapore properties, lower tax expenses and higher net realised gains on derivatives relating to the settlement of foreign currency forward contracts hedged. Net property income for the three months ended Sept 30 fell 1.8 per cent to S$42.3 million from the same period a year earlier. Keppel DC Reit units fell three Singapore cents or 1.49 per cent to S$1.99 on Tuesday before the results were announced.

Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit (KORE): KORE on Tuesday posted a third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.50 US cents, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. Distributable income for the three months ended Sept 30 was US$12.4 million, up 31 per cent from the third quarter last year and 23.3 per cent higher than what the real estate investment trust had forecast. KORE units closed flat at US$0.755 on Tuesday before the results were released.

Rex International: The Catalist-listed oilfield services firm on Wednesday announced that an oil and gas discovery has been made from the drilling of exploration and appraisal wells in the Norwegian Sea. The recoverable oil equivalents of the discovery is around three to six million standard cubic metres, or 19 to 38 million barrels, based on the preliminary estimates of PGNiG Upstream Norway, the operator of the drilling licence PL838. Shares of Rex International were trading up 0.8 Singapore cent or 10.1 per cent at 8.7 Singapore cents as at 9.04am on Wednesday, after the announcement was made.

AIMS Apac Reit (AA Reit): The real estate investment trust has requested a trading halt ahead of market open on Wednesday morning.