Singapore Stocks to Watch: Wilmar, Jardine Matheson, Jardine C&C, Hongkong Land, DFI Retail, Raffles Medical, Mandarin Oriental, Clint

The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Jul 31):

Wilmar (F34): Agribusiness group Wilmar International said on Sunday (Jul 30) that it has entered into a deal with several Moroccan investors to dispose of its entire 30.1 per cent equity stake in Casablanca Stock Exchange-listed Cosumar.

The total cash consideration for the sale is about 5.96 billion Moroccan dirhams (about S$812.3 million).

The carrying value of the investment in Cosumar in Wilmar’s books was US$336.2 million as at Dec 31, 2022.

Jardine Matheson (J36): Jardine Matheson Holdings on Friday (Jul 28) posted a net profit of US$566 million for the first half of 2023, up 34 per cent from earnings of US$423 million in the year-ago period.

The group attributed this to continued strong performance by Astra and DFI Retail, which marked a significant improvement in its results.

Earnings per share rose 33 per cent to 1.95 US cents, from 1.47 US cents previously.

Jardine C&C (C07): Jardine Cycle & Carriage posted a net profit of US$648 million for the first half ended Jun 30, 2023, a 33 per cent increase from a year ago, following higher contributions from Astra and the direct motor interests business segment.

The group’s revenue rose 9 per cent to US$11.7 billion, from US$10.7 billion the year before.

Earnings per share was US$1.64, increasing from US$1.23 a year ago.

Hongkong Land (H78): PROPERTY group Hongkong Land on Friday (Jul 28) reported underlying profit of US$422 million for the first half of 2023, marginally down from US$425 million a year ago, amid lower planned sales completions.

Net loss for the six months ended Jun 30 was US$333 million, compared with a US$292 million net profit a year ago. The group recorded unrealised losses mainly from revaluations in its investment properties business – US$755 million in H1 2023, and US$133 million in H1 2022.

Loss per share was 15 US cents, compared with earnings per share of 12.83 cents in H1 2022. Underlying earnings per share were 19.02 US cents, up from 18.67 cents a year ago. Hongkong Land said it has invested US$599 million in its US$1 billion share buyback programme announced in September 2021 and July 2022, resulting in the total issued share capital being reduced by 5.1 per cent.

DFI Retail (D01): DFI Retail Group returned to the black with a net profit of US$8 million for the first half of 2023, on contributions from its health and beauty division, as well as its convenience division.

The group had chalked up a net loss of US$58 million in the year-ago period. It said on Friday (Jul 28) that the recovery came amid improved trading conditions in Hong Kong and South-east Asia.

Earnings per share for the latest half-year came in at US$0.0061, compared to a loss per share of US$0.0425 in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Raffles Medical (BSL): Raffles Medical Group posted a 0.5 per cent rise in net profit to S$59.9 million for its first half ended Jun 30, 2023, from S$59.5 million in the previous corresponding period.

This was mainly due to lower staff and manpower expenditures offsetting the fall in revenue while operating leverages continued to improve, the private healthcare provider said on Monday (Jul 31).

Earnings per share stood at S$0.0322 for the half year, up from S$0.0320 the previous year.

Mandarin Oriental (M04): Mandarin Oriental saw its net loss widen to US$69.2 million for the first half of the year from US$18.3 million in the year-ago period.

The hotel investment and management group booked a net fair value loss of S$140.2 million on its investment assets – a commercial property under development and a completed residential property. 

On Friday (Jul 28), Mandarin Oriental said the valuation of the Causeway Bay site under development decreased between Dec 31, 2022 and Jun 30, 2023, resulting in a non-trading loss for the group of US$141 million.

Clint (CY6U): The manager of CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.36 cents for the 1HFY2023 ended June 30, 22% lower than the DPU of 4.28 cents in the same period the year before.

The lower DPU was attributed to higher finance costs, an enlarged unit base and the depreciation of the Indian rupee (INR) against the Singapore dollar (SGD).

The adjusted weighted average number of units rose by 13% y-o-y to 1.31 billion for the six-month period from 1.16 billion the year before.