Stocks to watch: Ezion, F&N, Centurion, Perennial, Raffles United

THE following companies saw new developments which may affect trading of their shares on Wednesday:

Ezion Holdings: The liftboat and offshore assets operator expects to post a net loss for the first quarter of 2018 due to "delays in re-deployment of some of the group's assets" while a refinancing exercise is being finalised. The company said that while revenue and profitability will be "adversely affected", the group will nevertheless be operationally cashflow positive for the three months ended March 31.

Fraser and Neave (F&N): F&N's second quarter net profit swelled to S$15.39 million from S$3.82 million a year ago, lifted partly by higher share of profits from associated companies. Including exceptional items, net profit totalled S$15.98 million, versus S$8.49 million a year ago. Revenue rose nearly 5 per cent to S$473.09 million, thanks to broad-based sales growth across its business segments in its core markets of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Centurion Corp: Centurion posted a 15 per cent fall in its first quarter profit to S$9.13 million, on the back of a lease expiry of its Westlite Tuas facility, which ceased operations in December 2017. The drop in the accommodation developer's profit came on the back of reduced revenue. For the quarter ended March 31, the top line fell by 17 per cent or S$6 million to S$30.1 million from the previous year.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings (Perennial): The absence of a one-off gain from the partial divestment of TripleOne Somerset last year has resulted in an 86.7 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit to S$5.14 million for Perennial Real Estate Holdings. Revenue in the three months ended March 31 was S$14.95 million, down 26.1 per cent, in the absence of revenue from TripleOne Somerset, which Perennial now accounts for as an associate.

Raffles United Holdings: The company announced that managing director Teo Teng Beng, executive director and deemed substantial shareholder Teo Xian-Hui Amanda Marie and chief financial officer Ho Hui Min were interviewed by the Commercial Affairs Department in early May. Ms Ho has provided a bond to report back to the CAD to assist in further investigations on May 17. Koh Hai Yang, business development director of Raffles United's subsidiary Kian Ho, and Kwek Che Yong, adviser to Kian Ho, have also been interviewed by the CAD, as were certain staff and former staff of Raffles United. Raffles United first announced on May 4 that it and its subsidiary, Kian Ho, are assisting the CAD with its investigations.