Singapore Stocks to Watch: SIA, First Sponsor, Sasseur Reit, First Reit, TalkMed, UOI

The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Wednesday (Feb 21):

Singapore Airlines (C6L): Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA)’s profit climbed in the third quarter as booming travel demand boosted ticket sales that helped the carrier’s bottom line.

Net income rose 5% from a year earlier to S$659 million ($490 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, the company said in an exchange filing Tuesday. Revenue rose 5% to an all-time quarterly high of S$5.1 billion. Net fuel costs, after hedging, increased 9.1%.

“The demand for air travel remains healthy,” the carrier said in the statement, referring to the recent and new fiscal quarter, adding that “forward sales continue to be robust.”

In the first nine months of the financial year, net income climbed 35% to S$2.1 billion on revenue of S$14.2 billion, both all-time highs. Singapore Air made as much profit in nine months as it did in the whole prior fiscal year, and it had a record taking back then. Its current performance comfortably puts it on course for new all-time highs.

Singapore Airlines shares are up 12.4% this year.

First Sponsor (ADN): Mixed property developer First Sponsor Group on Tuesday (Feb 20) booked a net profit slide of 96.8 per cent to S$1.9 million for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$59.9 million a year earlier.

The results come as the group’s top line for the period decreased 52.9 per cent year on year to S$147 million, from S$312.2 million.

This in turn was the result of lower revenue from the sale of properties and property financing, though it was partially offset by revenue increases from hotel operations and rental of investment properties.

Sasseur Reit (CRPU): Sasseur Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Reit) distribution per unit (DPU) rose 8.7 per cent on the year to S$0.01415 for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$0.01302 previously.

This was driven by an 81.7 per cent year-on-year increase in the variable component of the rental income under the Reit’s entrusted management agreement (EMA) model, which stood at 58.7 million yuan (S$11.1 million) for the quarter, said the Reit’s manager on Wednesday (Feb 21).

The manager highlighted that the rise in the variable component of EMA rental income came on the back of an 84.6 per cent increase in the portfolio’s outlet sales.

First Reit (AW9U): Healthcare real estate investment trust (Reit) First Reit on Tuesday (Feb 20) posted a 6.1 per cent decrease in distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.0124 for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$0.0132 in the corresponding year-ago period.

The H2 DPU comprises a Q3 DPU of S$0.0062, which was paid out on Dec 22, 2023, as well as a Q4 DPU of S$0.0062, which will be disbursed on Mar 28.

This brings the Reit’s full-year DPU to S$0.0248, which is lower than the S$0.0264 in FY2022.

TalkMed (5G3): TERTIARY healthcare services provider TalkMed Group on Tuesday (Feb 20) posted a 2.8 per cent drop in earnings to S$17.9 million for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$18.4 million in the corresponding year-ago period.

The dip was attributed to higher impairment loss, other operating expenses and employee benefit costs in H2 FY2023.

This translates to earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.0135, down from S$0.0139 year on year.

UOI (U13): UNITED Overseas Insurance (UOI), the general insurance arm of UOB, reported a net profit of S$17.3 million for the second half of the 2023 financial year.

This is down 6 per cent from a net profit of S$18.5 million for the same period a year ago.

Insurance revenue fell 14 per cent to S$48 million for the second half of FY2023 ended Dec 31, from S$56.1 million in the same period a year ago. This is due to the lower release of contractual service margin for services provided.