Hot Stock: Swiber shares surge 10% in early trade on new orders

SHARES of Swiber Holdings jumped 10 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents to S$0.165, some 40 minutes into trading.

As at 9.41am, more than nine million shares have changed hands, making the counter one of the most active on the Singapore bourse and a top gainer in early trade.

Traders' optimism followed news before markets opened on Thursday that Swiber clinched a series of contracts totalling US$405.6 million, bringing its order book to a record of over US$1.8 billion to-date, even as the oil and gas industry is in a downturn.

The new contracts include its latest US$333 million deal for engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) services in India - the second awarded to Swiber by the same national oil company in just over a month.

Swiber has said the new contract in India is expected to start contributing to the group's earnings in the second quarter ending June 30, 2015.