Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Monday. STI rose 0.3%, SIA rose 0.5%, UOB rose 0.2%, Nio rose 1.5%, Oxley fell 3.9%, MPACT rose 2.3%.
Stocks to Watch
Shangri-La Asia: The hotel group on Friday posted a 28.1 per cent decline in net profit to US$94.5 million for the first half-year ended Jun 30, from US$131.4 million a year earlier. The fall in net profit was attributed to higher operating costs, as well as a year-on-year decrease in gains of non-operating items. Its shares closed flat at HK$4.95, before the results were released.
Sembcorp Industries: The group has resumed operations of its power plant in Mandalay, Myanmar. Sembcorp said it does not expect the plant’s prior temporary suspension to have a material impact on its earnings per share and net tangible assets per share for the current financial year. Shares of Sembcorp fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 to close at S$4.75 on Friday, before the announcement was made.
Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust(MPACT): It has obtained a HK$1 billion (S$169.8 million) term loan facility, announced the trust manager on Friday. While it did not disclose what the proceeds from the loan will be used for, the manager said the facility contains conditions where a mandatory prepayment event may occur. Units of MPACT closed flat at S$1.32, before the news.
Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust(Starhill Global Reit): The Singapore office and retail Reit has obtained a S$50 million loan from UOB, its manager announced on Friday. Proceeds will be used to finance general corporate funding requirements, including capital expenditure to attain green certification for the trust’s portfolio of companies. Prior to the announcement, units of the Reit closed 2 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$0.49.
Oxley: The property developer expects to post net losses for both the second half and full year ended Jun 30, 2024. On Friday, Oxley said this was due to impairment losses, finance costs and lower revenue recognised from the group’s property development projects. Its shares closed S$0.001 or 1.3 per cent lower at S$0.077, before the announcement.
Creative Technology: Its net loss widened to US$6.8 million for its second half ended Jun 30, from US$6.1 million for the same period a year earlier. This was despite a higher gross profit margin and revenue, as the technology company’s bottom line was dragged down mainly by foreign exchange losses. Shares of Creative fell 4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.20 on Friday, before the results were released.
Trading halt: Enterprise technology, software and services company Silverlake Axis requested a trading halt on Monday morning, pending the release of an announcement. Its shares ended Friday S$0.005 or 1.7 per cent higher at S$0.30.
SG Local News
Singapore Dollar Trades Around Ten-Year High on Policy Outlook
Singapore’s dollar advanced to its strongest in almost a decade as traders weighed the difference between the local monetary authority’s relatively hawkish policy outlook compared with that of the Federal Reserve.
The local dollar hit levels last seen in 2014 against the greenback late Friday, and fluctuated around the 1.30 per dollar in early trading Monday. Singapore’s currency has gained about 1.5% this year, the second-best performer in Asia behind Malaysia’s ringgit.
Trading of Isetan’s shares to be suspended from Aug 29
The trading of shares in Isetan will be suspended on and from 9am on Aug 29. The last day of trading of Isetan’s shares will be on Aug 28.
The announcement, dated Aug 24, comes after the scheme of arrangement by Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. was sanctioned by the court on Aug 23. Isetan Mitsukoshi is the controlling shareholder of Isetan (Singapore). On April 1, the former announced that it was seeking to acquire all of the latter’s shares and take the latter private. The offer price of $7.20 per share represents a premium of 173.4% over Isetan (Singapore)’s last-traded share price of $2.63 on March 28. The offer price also values the company at around $309 million.
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