Hot stock: Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit plunges nearly 40% to all-time low on shock distribution suspension

Units of Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit : CMOU 0% (Kore) plunged as much as 39.2 per cent on Thursday (Feb 15) morning, following the manager’s shock announcement that it would suspend distributions for the next two years.

At the midday break, the counter was down US$0.096 or 38.4 per cent to US$0.154 with 22.7 million units changing hands. It traded as low as US$0.152 in the morning session, and ended 39.6 per cent or US$0.099 lower at US$0.151, the lowest price since its 2017 listing.

The suspension of distributions caught investors by surprise, even though another US office Reit – Manulife US Reit – had also stopped distributions last year after breaching debt covenants.