Stocks to watch: DBS, S i2i, Frasers Centrepoint, IHC

THE following companies issued material announcements before the start of trading on Tuesday.

DBS Group reported a net profit for the first quarter of 2016 of S$1.20 billion, down 5 per cent from a year ago.

Stripping out one-time items of about S$136 million related to the gain from disposal of a property investment a year ago, the earnings were 6 per cent higher, which was a record. Total income also reached a new milestone, rising 5 per cent to S$2.87 billion as net interest income grew 8 per cent to S$1.83 billion.

Quarter on quarter, net profit rose 20 per cent on the back of higher non-interest income and a lower cost-income ratio.

S i2i's shareholders supported a proposed capital reduction exercise at the group's extraordinary general meeting on April 29. The exercise will translate into a cash distribution of approximately S$10 million (or 72.9 Singapore cents per share) to shareholders, which is expected to be paid out on or about June 30, 2016. The capital reduction will not result in any cancellation of shares or a change in the number of shares held by shareholders.

FRASERS Property Australia (formerly Australand) has acquired 15.72 ha of prime land in Keysborough area in Victoria, Australia.

The site was acquired from private owners and is located adjacent to Frasers Property's The Key Industrial Park.

"The new acquisition complements The Key Industrial Estate and will be released to the market in 2017," said Frasers Property. The acquisition is in line with its strategy to restock in core industrial areas in Melbourne and supports the work that has already been undertaken in The Key Industrial Park.

Over the next one to three years, the company will undergo a restocking programme to further expand its presence across Melbourne in prime industrial locations. Frasers Property said that it is currently looking at many opportunities, and is in negotiations with a number of land owners.

INTERNATIONAL Healthway Corporation (IHC) has opened an International Medical Centre in Wuxi New District, China which is targeting the high-end market.

The centre - a joint venture between IHC's Phoenix Hospital and South Korea's SK Group - will be a "key driver towards revenue growth in the immediate future", said IHC.

In a separate announcement on Tuesday morning, IHC said that certain funds - Enterprise Fund III, Value Monetization III and VMF3 - have appointed receivers over the entire issued share capital of its wholly owned investment holding subsidiaries IHC Medical Re, IHC Management and IHC Management (Australia).

The funds had previously extended certain loan facility arrangements to the company and IHC Medical last year but the total amount outstanding under the loan facility arrangements is being disputed. In the unaudited consolidated financial statements of the group for the FY ended Dec 31, 2015, the outstanding amount under the loan facility arrangements is nearly S$4.12 million.

IHC said that there is no basis to the funds' claims and has applied to the Supreme Court of Singapore to suspend the appointment of the receivers and enjoin the funds from selling or transferring any of the shares in the subsidiaries.