On January 7, UBS, the Swiss finance corporation, announced it had slashed its holdings in Centro by 3.37 percent, down to 5.26 percent. UBS Property Securities Fund had invested almost 14 percent of its total funds in the company. Predictions are now being made by some local analysts that Centro shares could drop to 26 cents.
While Centro continues to claim it will avoid bankruptcy, its precipitous fall is only the sharpest expression of a serious decline in the position of Australian LPTs. By the end of December, the local sector, which has more than 35 percent of its assets in the US, had lost more than 11 percent over the previous 12 months, its first annual decline in seven years.
CNP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
