Stocks to watch: Great Eastern, BreadTalk, StarHub, OUE Lippo Healthcare, Raffles United

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

Great Eastern: The insurer's Q1 net profit surged 68 per cent to S$152.9 million, thanks to higher earnings from its Singapore insurance business. This was offset by losses from its fair value investments arising from "unfavourable market conditions", GE said in an exchange filing on Friday. On a per share basis, GE's profit attributable to shareholders came in at S$0.32, up from S$0.19 in the same quarter last year.

BreadTalk: The absence of a one-time divestment gain dented results for BreadTalk Group for its first quarter. Net profit plunged 89.1 per cent to S$10.8 million from the previous year, the group announced on Thursday evening. For the three months ended March 31, revenue crept up 0.5 per cent to S$147.7 million from the year-ago period as the group cautiously restarted outlet expansion after two years of consolidation.

StarHub: First-quarter earnings took a tumble at telco StarHub - in spite of lower expenses - on the back of a revenue fall in mobile and pay-TV services. Net profit was down to S$61.5 million for the three months to March 31, or a drop of 14.9 per cent on the previous year, according to unaudited financial results out on Thursday.

OUE Lippo Healthcare: OUE Lippo Healthcare expects to report a net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, the group said in an exchange filing late on Thursday night. The healthcare group said that the loss is attributable mainly to operating costs. Further details will be disclosed when its releases its results on or before May 15.

Raffles United: Bearings and seals supplier Raffles United and its subsidiary, Kian Ho, are assisting the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) with investigations into potential breaches of the Securities and Futures Act. The company said in an exchange filing on Friday that it received a letter dated May 2 from the CAD about the investigation. The company has handed over requested documents, information and IT equipment dating back to Jan 1, 2015 to the CAD.