UOB, DBS price pullback hits STI

CONTINUED price pullback of UOB and DBS shares, and a soft opening for Europe meant the Straits Times Index finished a nondescript Wednesday 8.44 points weaker at 3,283.71. Turnover remained weak at one billion units worth S$1.02 billion and excluding warrants, there were 195 rises versus 219 falls throughout. Losses sustained by the two banks contributed six points towards the index's loss. DBS ended $0.17 lower at S$19.26 with 3.7 million shares traded and UOB fell S$0.19 to S$22.90 on volume of 2.6 million shares. OCBC in the meantime, managed to recoup S$0.04 to close at S$10.14 with 3.8 million shares done.

Elsewhere within the index, Genting Singapore's shares dropped S$0.025 to S$1.015 with 66.1 million shares traded after the casino operator reported a 50 per cent drop in third-quarter net profit to S$97.4 million and a 17 per cent revenue fall to S$644.77 million.

OSK DMG said that it is "neutral" on the stock and is now pegging a revised FY2015 EV/Ebitda (enterprise value/earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 8.5x (from 10.0x) to Genting Singapore's valuation. "This is premised on an unchanged 25 per cent discount to its Macau gaming peers, that witnessed recent share price retracements, which we deem justified given the more stringent regulatory control in Singapore's gaming industry," said OSK DMG. It lowered its fair value from S$1.39 to S$1.14.