SPH jumps to three-week high on REIT plan

SPH jumps to three-week high on REIT plan
PHOTO: SPH jumps to three-week high on REIT plan

SINGAPORE - Shares in Singapore Press Holdings rose as much as 1.6 per cent to a three-week high after the company gave more details about the planned listing of a real estate investment trust.

The media group plans to raise at least S$523 million by spinning off some of its property assets via the new SPH REIT, it said in a preliminary prospectus.

"We believe that such a spinoff could benefit SPH shareholders in the long term," Maybank Kim Eng analysts said in a research note, adding that the limited free float - accounting for just 12.4 per cent of the total outstanding units - could help the initial listing go smoothly in a volatile market.

SPH shares traded at S$4.29, retreating from an intra-day high of S$4.33. Share price has risen more than 6 per cent so far this year, beating the Straits Times Index's moderate 0.8 per cent gain.

Though Maybank maintained its "buy" call on SPH, it cut the target price to S$4.52 from S$4.95 due to rising interest rates, and cautioned that lower-than-expected quarterly results, due next week, may put pressure on the stock in the short term.

Maybank expected the REIT's initial public offering process to end by August, slightly later than the original plan.

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