LTC Shares Fall Amid Debt Payment Concerns

LTC Properties Inc.’s shares fell 27% amid concern the health-care property real estate investment trust won’t be able to repay about $168.5 million of debt due in October and may have to file for bankruptcy protection. LTC’s shares fell $1.56 to an all-time low of $4.25 on the New York Stock Exchange. LTC and other owners of health-care properties have been hit hard amid a slew of operator bankruptcies in the wake of changes to Medicaid repayment plans last year. The Oxnard-based company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that one of its lenders, Bank of America, would only agree to renew the debt at rates LTC believes “are not commercially viable” and “seeking the protections afforded under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws” is an option. Even if an agreement is reached, the company could be forced to “further limit dividend distributions,” it said.