The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (May 5):
OUE C-Reit (TS0U): NET property income (NPI) for OUE Commercial Reit (real estate investment trust) came in at S$56.6 million in the first quarter of 2023, an 18 per cent increase from the same period a year ago.
Its revenue rose 14.9 per cent to S$68.4 million over the same period, driven mainly by higher contributions from the Reit’s Hilton Singapore Orchard and Singapore commercial properties, said its manager on Thursday (May 4).
However, higher interim interest expense due to steep interest rate hikes over the past year is expected to impact upcoming distributions in 2023, noted the manager in the bourse filing.
AA Reit (O5RU): AIMS Apac Reit (AA Reit) posted an 11.3 per cent increase in its distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.05244 for the second half year ended Mar 31, 2023, from S$0.0471 last year.
The real estate investment trust’s (Reit) gross revenue was S$84.2 million, up 9.1 per cent from S$77.1 million the previous year.
This was mainly due to full-year revenue contribution from the acquisition of Woolworths HQ in Australia, and higher rental and recoveries from the Reit’s logistics and warehouse, hi-tech and industrial properties, said its manager on Friday (May 5).
Great Eastern (G07): Insurance company Great Eastern posted a 22 per cent fall in total weighted new sales to S$390.9 million for its first fiscal quarter ended Mar 31, from S$503.6 million in the same period the year before.
The decline was due to lower single-premium sales from the Singapore market and was partially offset by better performance in regular premium sales, said the insurance arm of OCBC on Friday (May 5).
Within Singapore, total weighted new sales fell 31 per cent to S$254.1 million in the first quarter, from S$370 million. The company attributed this to lower single-premium sales amid strong competition among banks and money market instruments.
Aztech (8AZ): Technology solutions provider Aztech Global‘s net profit fell 3.6 per cent to S$13.4 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago on higher operating expenses.
The higher expenses resulted from inflationary cost pressures, the stronger local currencies at markets where Aztech is operating, as well as foreign exchange losses of S$3.1 million, the company said in a bourse filing on Thursday (May 4).
However, revenue went up by 26.3 per cent year on year to S$161.6 million in the quarter, driven mainly by an increase in sales of its Internet of Things devices and data communication products.
LHN (41O): Real estate management services provider LHN expects to see a lower net profit before tax for the first half of its financial year ended Mar 31, 2023, of at least approximately S$19 million.
This is a decline of over 47 per cent compared to the S$35.9 million in net profit before tax over the same period a year ago, said LHN in a bourse filing on Thursday (May 4), based on the preliminary assessment of its unaudited financial results for the first half of FY2023.
LHN said that the lower net profit before tax arose mainly from the space optimisation business, due to fair value loss on the group’s and joint ventures’ investment properties in H1 FY2023, compared to fair value gain over the same period a year ago.