Stocks to watch: Noble, Kingboard Copper, ASTI, ISEC, Anchor Resources, China Gaoxian

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

Noble Group: Distressed commodities firm Noble Group on Monday said more than 70 per cent of its creditors have acceded to the restructuring support agreement. It added that company's advisers are in contact with about 10 per cent of creditors who have indicated their broad support for the proposed financial restructuring. "The company remains confident that the number of creditors acceding into the restructuring support agreement will continue to rise." The deadline for the new subscription is April 11.

Kingboard Copper Foil Holdings: The China-based copper foil producer on Monday said its controlling shareholder had bought another 5.58 per cent in the company by purchasing some 40.3 million shares at a price range of between S$0.40 and S$0.45 apiece. The company was responding late Monday night to a regulatory query over its trading activity. Shares of Kingboard Copper rose to a decade high, before closing at S$0.45, up seven Singapore cents or 18.4 per cent. It was among the most actively traded counters on the Singapore Exchange on Monday.

ASTI Holdings: It said that in its proposed disposal of its wholly owned subsidiary, Semiconductor Technologies & Instruments Pte Ltd, for a cash consideration of S$90 million, its estimated expenses of S$17.2 million on the deal was a success fee paid to VSA Capital Shanghai, the financial adviser for the disposal. This left net proceeds of the sale at about S$72.8 million. The success fee was calculated based on certain formulae and agreed thresholds between ASTI and VSA Capital Shanghai, the semiconductor equipment manufacturer said in filing with the Singapore Exchange late Monday. ASTI added that the success fee was to motivate the financial adviser to get the best deal for the company.

ISEC Healthcare: The Eye care provider is claiming S$159,465.30 from vendors of four clinics after three of the clinics failed to reach profit targets that had been set in 2016. The clinics, collectively called the JL Medical Group of companies, were acquired for S$13.9 million in 2016. At the time, the vendors of JL Medical Group provided profit guarantee for each of the four clinics for each of the five financial years beginning Jan 1, 2017.

Anchor Resources: The Catalist-listed firm is tying up with a granite quarry licence holder to tender for Malaysian East Coast Rail Line projects, it said on Tuesday morning. Anchor's wholly owned subsidiary GGTM Sdn Bhd and businessman Mohd Sukri Ismail inked an exclusive memorandum of understanding on Monday to tender for contracts to supply granite for rail tracks and three train stations, owing to the "strategic location" of the tracks and stations and the joint-venture partners' quarries. The tie-up between GGTM and Mr Sukri aims to give their unincorporated joint venture exclusive usage of the quarry leases, together with the necessary approvals, said Anchor.

China Gaoxian Fibre Fabric Holdings: The board of the yarn supplier has said that it believes that the company will be able to operate as a going concern, in response to queries from the bourse operator over its full-year results for 2017. Operating cash flows from its Huaxiang (China) Premium Fibre plant at full production, surplus cash from a tie-up with another company and "financial support" from a shareholder were why the directors believe that "the going concern assumption is appropriate", the board said on Monday night. These cash sources were also cited as means for the company to repay or refinance short-term loans, alongside a government scheme in the city of Huzhou, in China's Zhejiang province, to help local businesses facing financial difficulties.