Ascott Residence Trust's DPU down 28% to 1.69 cents in Q3

Revenue grew but a larger unit base due to the rights issue pulled DPU down.

Ascott Residence Trust's (ART) distribution per unit (DPU) crashed 28% YoY from 2.35 cents to 1.69 cents in Q3.

According to OCBC Investment Research, revenue rose 2.4% to $126.9, mainly due to the additional revenue of $4.9m from the acquisitions of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New York and two services residences in Germany, which was partially offset by the decrease in revenue of $1.9m from the divestments in Japan and China.

However, the DPU fell mainly due to the enlarged unit base after the rights issue launched back in March.

On 23 March 2016, ART issued 94,787,000 new units in relation to the equity placement exercise. The gross proceeds from the equity placement exercise of $100m were used to fund the acquisition of Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel in New York.