Delong requests trading halt pending announcement

MAINBOARD-LISTED steelmaker Delong Holdings has called for a trading halt on Monday, half an hour before the midday break, pending the release of an announcement.

As at 12.44pm, the counter was up nine Singapore cents or 1.52 per cent at S$6.01.

Delong's latest bourse filing before Monday was made on July 9, when it updated shareholders that the government of Laiyuan county in China had paid the company a further sum of 40 million yuan (S$7.9 million) as part of the compensation for Aoyu Steel's operations. About 448 million yuan remained outstanding on the compensation sum as at July 9.

In May, it reported that its net profit shrank 46.2 per cent to 151 million yuan for the first quarter ended March 31, mainly due to lower average selling prices of its products as well as higher cost of sales per tonne.

Delong produces and sells hot-rolled steel coils and steel billets. China is its principal market, although it also exports some of its products to overseas markets such as South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia.