Stocks to watch: Keppel Corp, Yangzijiang Financial, EC World Reit

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Wednesday (Nov 23):

Keppel Corporation : Asset manager BlackRock Inc became a substantial shareholder of the conglomerate after a related entity purchased 87,600 shares for about S$650,000 – or roughly S$7.43 per share. BlackRock’s stake in Keppel was lifted to 5 per cent from 4.99 per cent after the purchase, and it now holds a deemed interest of about 87.7 million Keppel shares through some 20 related entities. Shares of Keppel ended Tuesday at S$7.41, up 0.4 per cent or S$0.03. 

Yangzijiang Financial : It announced on Tuesday (Nov 22) that it will partner Temasek-backed Heliconia Capital to invest in Singaporean and South-east Asian small and medium-sized enterprises. It will contribute S$80 million to the fund, which has a target size of up to S$150 million. Shares of Yangzijiang Financial closed at S$0.34, down S$0.005 or 1.5 per cent, before the announcement.