Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Monday. STI rose 0.2%, SIA rose 0.3%, DBS fell 0.1%, SingTel rose 0.8%, Seatrium rose 1.3%, NIO fell 4.5%, Genting Singapore rose 1.1%.
Stocks to Watch
THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Apr 1):
Keppel, Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT): Keppel’s infrastructure division and KIT are proposing to amend and extend their capacity tolling agreement for the Keppel Merlimau Cogen (KMC) plant by 10 years, from 2030 to 2040. This is expected to generate up to nearly S$1.1 billion in long-term capacity payments for KMC, said both parties on Monday. Shares of Keppel ended Thursday down S$0.07 or 0.9 per cent at S$7.34, while KIT units closed S$0.01 or 2.1 per cent higher at S$0.50.
Keppel Reit: The real estate investment trust (Reit) is acquiring a 50 per cent interest in a freehold Grade A office building in Sydney for A$363.8 million (S$321 million) from Mirvac Wholesale Office Fund I. The property is expected to generate a first-year yield that exceeds 6 per cent and distribution per unit accretion of 1.4 per cent on a pro forma basis, said the Reit manager on Monday. Units of Keppel Reit closed S$0.005 or 0.6 per cent higher at S$0.87 on Thursday.
Sembcorp: Its subsidiary Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai) has inked a dual currency-denominated revolving credit facility with DBS (Hong Kong), announced the group on Monday. This is expected to provide Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai) access to offshore funds of 400 million yuan (S$74 million) for an initial tenure of three years, with a two-year extension option. Shares of Sembcorp closed S$0.01 or 0.2 per cent lower at S$5.40 on Thursday.
ComfortDelGro (CDG): Its subsidiary Metroline won contracts worth £422 million (S$719.8 million), to operate four public-bus franchises in the UK for five years. The contracts are awarded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and come with options to be extended for two one-year terms. Shares of CDG closed flat at S$1.40 on Thursday, before the announcement.
Hatten Land: The developer’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary MDSA Resources received a notice of default and a letter of demand from Kenanga Investment Bank for a total of RM14,114,652.15 (S$4 million). On Thursday, Hatten Land said the sum was owed in relation to its medium-term note programme. The counter last traded at S$0.011 on Mar 25 before a trading halt took effect. It resumes trading on Monday.
Trading halts: GS Holdings, Isetan (Singapore) and Cordlife Group each requested trading halts on Monday morning, pending the release of their respective announcements. Shares of GS Holdings were unchanged at S$0.019 at last Thursday’s close, while Isetan (Singapore) was unmoved at S$2.84. Cordlife ended S$0.008 or 4.4 per cent lower at S$0.172.
SG Local News
Dengue Cases Soar, Doubling in First Quarter of 2024; Seven Deaths Reported
Singapore is experiencing a surge in dengue infections, with cases in the opening quarter of the year more than double that of the same period in 2023.
Over 5,000 dengue cases were reported, a spike from the 2,360 cases in the same quarter last year, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a news release on Sunday (Mar 31).
As of Mar 25, seven people have died from local dengue infection. Six fatalities were recorded for the whole of 2023.
The figures were revealed at Sunday's launch of the national dengue prevention campaign, which came ahead of the traditional peak dengue season of May to October.
Red-Light Cameras to Be Activated to Detect Speeding From Apr 1
The speed enforcement function in red-light cameras across Singapore will be "progressively and dynamically" activated from Monday (Apr 1).
Locations that are more accident-prone or violation-prone will be prioritised for the activation.
Red-light cameras, which are deployed at selected road junctions, are used to detect vehicles that commit red-light running offences.
They are prominently painted in orange and white. Warning signs with speed limits are also placed before traffic camera enforcement zones.
As of last December, a total of 252 red-light cameras were deployed across the country.
S'pore's Co-Ops to Be Able to Use Reserves to Pay Dividends Under Proposed Changes
Singapore’s cooperatives will be able to use their reserves to pay dividends and honoraria under proposed changes to an Act that governs their operations.
Currently, they are not allowed to touch the reserves. If the changes are passed, co-ops will be permitted to use their reserves to distribute dividends to members or pay an honorarium to members of the committee of management.
These payments will be subject to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies’ approval. The Registrar will, for example, assess whether the dividend and honorarium rates proposed are reasonable, and co-ops are maintaining a sufficient capital buffer for their long-term viability.
The amendments to the Co-operative Societies Act are likely to be read a second time in Parliament in early April.
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