Hot stock: Watches.com up as much as 20% after news of contract win

SHARES of Watches.com gained traction on Monday (Aug 29) morning after the online timepiece retailer announced its maiden contract win from a telecommunications operator on Friday.

As at 9.36 am, the Catalist-listed counter jumped 20 per cent or S$0.003 to reach S$0.018 with some 18.5 million securities traded. It later eased to trade at S$0.016, up S$0.001 or 6.7 per cent, as at 10.25am with 26.4 million shares changing hands.

No married deals took place in early trade, according to ShareInvestor data.

Watches.com also provides regional communications network services. It was previously trading as Ntegrator International up until its name change in May 2022, after acquiring a Hong Kong-based watch business with Incredible Holdings.

On Friday, the company announced it secured a maiden contract worth about S$8.7 million to install and maintain duct lines and manhole services in the Orchard region of Singapore.

While the contract awarder was not named, Watches.com said it was a telecommunications operator which “owns telecom infrastructure assets that supports the next generation nationwide broadband network”.

As at Aug 25, Watches.com had an outstanding orderbook of S$61.7 million.

The company expects its latest contract, which commenced on Aug 20 this year, to be completed by 2023 and will not have any material impact on earnings of the group for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2022.

It however said that all orders on its outstanding orderbook are expected to be delivered within the next 24 months, and will “generate sustainable revenue streams” for the group up until FY2024.

“Our group will continue to play an active role in the deployment and upgrading of Singapore’s 5G network and infrastructure,” said Christian Kwok-Leun Yau Heilesen, executive director of the group.

He added that the company is well-positioned to capture more of such opportunities, in his view, as more base stations, antennas and fibre optics are being deployed and laid in the region.