Stocks to watch: Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land, DFI Retail, Mandarin Oriental

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (Mar 8):

Jardine Matheson Holdings : The company on Thursday posted an underlying net profit of US$1.66 billion for FY2023, up 5 per cent from underlying earnings of US$1.58 billion a year ago. The company attributed the growth mainly to strong results from its automotive business Astra and significantly improved contributions from DFI Retail, as well as property group Mandarin Oriental. Shares of Jardine Matheson fell 1.1 per cent, or US$0.43 to US$39.13 before the announcement.

Hongkong Land : The property developer on Thursday reported a full-year loss of US$582.3 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, from a US$202.7 million profit the year before. Its underlying profit slid by 5 per cent to US$734.2 million, from US$776.1 million a year ago. Loss per share was US$0.2629, a turnaround from earnings per share of US$0.0899 the previous year. Its counter closed up US$0.06 or 1.9 per cent at US$3.15 before the news.