Stocks to watch: Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land, DFI Retail, DBS, Japan Foods, Sabana Reit, LMIRT

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (May 24):

Jardine Matheson Holdings : The conglomerate on Thursday said that it expects its full-year underlying profits to be “modestly down” from that for 2023, mainly due to its share of expected non-cash impairment charges in Hongkong Land’s development properties business in China, as well as lower commodity prices at Astra. Shares of Jardine Matheson fell 1.7 per cent or US$0.66 to close at US$38.45 on Thursday before the business update.

Hongkong Land : The property developer said on Thursday that it expects its underlying profit for H1 FY2024 to be “significantly lower” than in the previous financial year, on the back of slower sales in China. Buyer sentiment in China towards the residential sector has continued to deteriorate, with reduced sales and pricing, the group said. Shares of Hongkong Land ended 0.6 per cent, or US$0.02 lower at US$3.45.

DFI Retail Group : The group said on Thursday that it continues to expect its underlying profit for FY2024 to be between US$180 million and US$220 million, in line with its guidance released in March this year. Although the group reported strong profit growth in the first quarter, the growth is expected to slow down over the remainder of the year, reflecting the group’s stronger performance in the comparable period last year. Shares of DFI Retail closed 0.5 per cent or US$0.01 lower at US$1.86.

DBS : The bank has accepted offers from prospective buyers for 19 of the 46 shophouse and retail units formerly occupied by its full-service branches. These were put up for sale in April. The Business Times understands that the 19 units comprise shophouses and shop units in HDB estates, and that none of the 10 private strata retail units in the portfolio of 46 units has been sold so far. DBS’ shares closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.17 higher at US$35.85.

Japan Foods Holdings : The group sank into the red with a net loss of S$576,000 for its second half-year ended March, from a S$1.8 million net profit in the year-ago period. This is despite a 7 per cent rise in revenue of S$43.4 million. For FY2024, the group’s full-year net loss stood at S$495,000, compared to S$4.1 million net profit in FY2023 on “significantly higher expenses” due to enlarged operations, said the group on Friday. Shares of Japan Foods closed on Thursday flat at S$0.26.

Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit): The Singapore High Court has ruled that trust deed amendments are required to effect the internalisation of the manager function of the Reit. But it also ruled that ESR would not be allowed to vote on the proposed trust deed amendments, because the trust deed bars it from voting on matters where it has a material interest. Units of Sabana Reit closed flat at S$0.355 on Thursday.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) : Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings on Thursday said it downgraded LMIRT’s long-term issuer default rating of to “C” from “CC”. It also downgraded the rating on LMIRT’s senior unsecured notes, due 2024 and 2026, to “C” from “CC”, with a recovery rating of “RR4”. Units of LMIRT closed unchanged at S$0.012 on Thursday.