Stocks to watch: CLCT, Keppel, Keppel Infrastructure Trust, Ascendas India Trust

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday:

CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT) AU8U : The China shopping mall trust announced on Thursday morning distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.23 Singapore cents for the first half ended June 30, up 40.1 per cent from DPU of 3.02 cents in the year-ago period. The increase was largely due to new contribution from its business park portfolio. CLCT units closed 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$1.35 on Wednesday.

Keppel Corp BN4 : The mainboard-listed conglomerate said on Thursday that Keppel Land China will divest 100 per cent of its equity interest in a residential development project in Chengdu for 1.6 billion yuan (S$324 million). Keppel shares rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.03 to close at S$5.28 on Wednesday.

Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) A7RU : on Wednesday announced a DPU of 1.86 Singapore cents for the first half ended June, despite its free cash flow to equity (FCFE) having fallen 11.2 per cent to S$100.6 million. Loss attributable to unitholders was S$3 million, a reversal from S$45.2 million in profit recorded a year ago. KIT was hit by an impairment loss on provisions and assets owned by Ixom, one of its subsidiaries. KIT's counter closed at S$0.55 on Wednesday, before the announcement, up 0.5 cent or 0.9 per cent.

Ascendas India Trust CY6U : The business park landlord announced on Wednesday a 4.2 Singapore cent DPU for the first six months of this year, down 9 per cent on the previous year's DPU of 4.64 cents, no thanks to a weaker rupee and a one-off reversal of a dividend distribution tax provision. Distributable income shrank 8.8 per cent to S$53.8 million. Units closed flat at S$1.45 on Wednesday, before the results were released.