Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Wednesday. STI rose 0.6%; SIA rose 1.5%; DBS rose 1.1%; OCBC, UOB, Singtel and Seatrium rose 0.7%; Nio rose 3.1%; Genting Singapore rose 1.3%; ST Engineering rose 1.9%; Olam Group fell 3.3%; Wilmar rose 2%.
Stocks to Watch
CapitaLandInvest (CLI): The real asset manager’s profit for the six months ended Jun 30, 2024, fell 6 per cent year on year to S$331 million, from S$351 million the year before. On Wednesday, CLI said its stronger fee-income related business performance was offset by a weaker real estate investment business for the period. Shares of CLI closed on Tuesday S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent higher at S$2.53.
ST Engineering: Its profit for the first half of the fiscal year grew 19.9 per cent to S$336.5 million from S$280.6 million the prior year as revenue jumped 13.5 per cent to S$5.5 billion. The group on Wednesday said it ended the period with an order book of S$27.9 billion. Shares of ST Engineering ended S$0.03 or 0.7 per cent higher at S$4.28 on Tuesday.
Wilmar Intl: The agribusiness on Tuesday reported a net profit of US$579.6 million for the first half ended Jun 30, up 5.2 per cent from US$550.9 million in the year-ago period. This was attributed to better performance from the feed and industrial products, as well as food products segments. Shares of Wilmar closed 1 per cent or S$0.03 lower at S$3.01, before the announcement.
CityDev (CDL): The property developer posted a net profit of S$87.8 million for the first half ended Jun 30, grew 32 per cent from S$66.5 million the year before. This was despite a 42.2 per cent decline in revenue as the group’s bottomline was supported by divestment gains, said CDL on Wednesday. The counter closed on Tuesday S$0.02 or 0.4 per cent higher at S$5.22.
Olam Group: The agribusiness group’s H1 net profit inched up 0.2 per cent to S$48.03 million, from S$47.96 million in the previous corresponding period. This slight improvement came as operational profit growth was offset by higher finance costs and taxes, said the group on Wednesday. Shares of Olam ended on Tuesday 8.9 per cent or S$0.10 higher at S$1.23.
First Resources: The palm oil producer on Wednesday posted a net profit of US$103.9 million for the half year, up 45.4 per cent from US$71.5 million in the corresponding period a year ago. Revenue inched up 1.9 per cent to US$457.2 million, from US$448.8 million in H1 FY2023. Shares of the mainboard-listed company closed 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.38 on Tuesday.
Bumitama Agri: Its H1 net profit declined 27.9 per cent to 856.8 million rupiah (S$71.6 million) versus 1.2 billion rupiah the year before. On Wednesday, the palm oil giant said this was mainly due to foreign exchange losses and higher average purchase price of external fresh fruit bunches. Its shares ended on Tuesday S$0.015 or 2.1 per cent higher at S$0.72.
Golden Agri-Res: Its second quarter net profit fell 27.8 per cent to US$65 million for the three months ended June, down from US$90 million in the previous corresponding period. The company, which cultivates, harvests and processes palm oil, said the profit decline was chiefly due to higher financial expenses and an unrealised foreign-exchange loss. Shares of GAR closed flat on Tuesday at S$0.265, before the results were released.
SG Local News
Sea Surges 12% After Lifting Outlook During TikTok, Lazada Fight
Sea Ltd.’s shares rose their most since March 2023 after raising its online retail sales outlook, suggesting the Southeast Asia e-commerce leader is successfully countering hard-charging rivals TikTok and Lazada.
The company’s US stock rose almost 12% after it forecast the value of goods sold by e-commerce arm Shopee will rise in the “mid-20%” range this year, up from a “high teens” pace predicted in March. The Singapore-based firm also said the division should turn profitable on an adjusted basis in the September quarter, after posting results that topped analysts’ estimates.
The forecast alleviates some concerns about the prospects for Shopee, which is trying to fend off competition from ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Lazada. Investors are watching closely to see if Shopee’s higher merchant fees can boost margins without hurting its lead against those deep-pocketed conglomerates. Newer contenders like Shein and PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu are also targeting Southeast Asia, a region of about 675 million people where more shoppers are moving online.
DBS Launches Blockchain-Powered Treasury Tokens Pilot for 24/7 Treasury and Liquidity Management
DBS on Tuesday announced the pilot launch of its blockchain-powered treasury tokens, in a tie-up with digital payment and financial services provider Ant International.
The treasury tokens, enabled by DBS’ permissioned blockchain, is integrated with the bank’s core payments engine and uses smart contracts and tokenisation to improve banking efficiencies.
Ant International, through the collaboration, will be able to use the bank’s permissioned blockchain for its entities across different markets.
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