Stocks to watch: IHH, Croesus Retail Trust, Sim Lian

EARNINGS dominated overnight news heading into Friday's market opening.

IHH Healthcare's second-quarter net profit rose 8 per cent to RM246.1 million (S$82.2 million) on the back of gains from a divestment and foreign exchange. The group posted a RM54.8 million gain from selling its 90 per cent stake in Shenton Insurance.

Croesus Retail Trust raised its distribution per unit to 1.7 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter as fair-value adjustments dragged down net profit by 21.8 per cent to 4.4 billion yen (S$59 million).

The Japan-focused real estate investment trust's net property income rose 19.4 per cent to 1.44 billion yen in the three months ended June 30, but fair-value gains on investment properties slipped 6.2 per cent to 5.6 billion yen while derivative financial instruments incurred a loss of 820.6 million yen compared to a year-ago gain of 233.7 million yen.

Construction and property development firm Sim Lian Group's full-year net profit for the 12 months ended June 30 fell 71 per cent to S$68.8 million as revenue fell 52 per cent to S$570.9 million.