Keppel Reit Management CEO steps down

KEPPEL Reit's K71U manager announced on Friday that its chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Tham will step down on Oct 20 to pursue other opportunities.

While Keppel Reit Management's board evaluates potential CEO candidates, deputy CEO and head of investment Shirley Ng will be acting CEO, subject to regulatory approval.

Prior to her appointment as head of investment of the Reit's manager in June 2018, she was senior vice-president of portfolio management at Alpha Investment Partners, a private fund management arm of Keppel Capital.

Chairman of Keppel Reit Management Penny Goh expressed the company's appreciation to Mr Tham for his contributions to the Reit, and said that his execution of the Reit's active portfolio optimisation strategy has put it in a stronger position to deliver sustainable total returns to unitholders.

Keppel Reit on July 27 posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.94 Singapore cents for the first-half ended June 30, up 5 per cent from 2.8 cents a year ago.

Shares of the Reit closed at S$1.08, down 0.9 per cent or S$0.01 on Friday before the announcement was made.