Stocks to watch: OCBC, Sri Trang Gloves, Wilmar, Great Eastern, F&N, SingPost

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (May 10): 

OCBC : The lender reported on Friday that its net profit for the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2024, rose 5 per cent on the year to S$1.98 billion. This beat the S$1.85 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of three analysts. Total income for the quarter rose 8 per cent to S$3.63 billion, with growth in both net interest income and non-interest income. The counter ended 1.2 per cent or S$0.16 higher at S$13.91 on Thursday.

Sri Trang Gloves : The glove manufacturer on Thursday posted a 10.9 per cent increase in net profit to 146.8 million baht (S$5.4 million) for its first quarter ended Mar 31, from 132.3 million baht a year earlier. Revenue increased 32.1 per cent to 6.1 billion baht from 4.6 billion baht, on the back of a 38.5 per cent year on year increase in sales volume across all products. Its counter closed flat at S$0.34 before the financial results.

Wilmar International : The agribusiness company has secured a US$100 million sustainability-linked loan with a tenure of three years from Maybank, said both companies on Thursday. For the loan, Wilmar’s targets include internal key performance indicators, as well as external benchmarking standards. The counter closed S$0.04 or 1.2 per cent lower at S$3.17 before the announcement. 

Great Eastern : The insurer’s parent company OCBC has made a voluntary unconditional general offer for the 11.56 per cent stake in Great Eastern that the bank does not currently own. OCBC said on Friday that it intends to delist the insurance arm from the Singapore Exchange. The offer price of S$25.60 represents a 36.9 per cent premium over Great Eastern’s last traded price of S$18.70, valuing the stake at S$1.4 billion. Great Eastern closed flat at S$18.70 on Thursday.

F&N : The beverage maker recorded a 52.5 per cent increase in net profit to S$83.8 million for its first half year ended March, from S$55 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.5 per cent to S$1.1 billion for the six-month period, driven by the food and beverage segment, where revenue grew 4 per cent to S$929.8 million, the group said on Thursday. Shares of F&N closed flat at S$1.02, before the financial results.

Singapore Post (SingPost): The postal services provider’s net profit for the second half ended March rose 93.4 per cent year on year to S$66.9 million, despite lower revenue. This came as the group registered higher exceptional gains and lower expenses, according to the group’s results filing on Friday. Shares of SingPost ended Thursday up S$0.01 or 2.2 per cent at S$0.46.

Riverstone : The glove maker reported a Q1 net profit of RM72.2 million (S$20.7 million) for the period ended Mar 31, a 54.5 per cent increase from RM46.7 million for the corresponding year-ago period. This marked its fifth consecutive quarter of sequential growth, said the company on Thursday. Shares of Riverstone closed 0.6 per cent, or S$0.005 lower at S$0.775, before the business update.

United Hampshire US Real Estate Investment Trust (United Hampshire US Reit): The US-focused Singapore Reit reported distributable income of US$6.4 million, down 19 per cent year on year due to higher interest expenses and the refinancing of a maturing loan. On Friday, its manager said the distributable income decline was also partly due to less-favourable new interest-rate hedges, which replaced maturing hedges. Units of United Hampshire US Reit ended Thursday flat at US$0.425.