Stocks to watch: Prudential, CICT, Aspen, ValueMax, Boustead Projects, Alpina

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday (Mar 16):

Prudential : The insurer on Wednesday posted profit from continuing operations of US$998 million for FY2022, down 54 per cent from the previous year due to a decline in profit from its Indonesia segment. A higher second interim dividend of US$0.1304 a share was proposed, up from US$0.1186 in the same year-ago period. Shares of Prudential on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) ended flat at US$10, after the news.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT): Its wholly-owned subsidiary has issued HK$755 million (S$130 million) worth of fixed rate notes due to mature on Mar 15, 2033, at a rate of 4.85 per cent per annum. Units of CICT closed 2.2 per cent or S$0.04 higher at S$1.88 on Wednesday, before the announcement was made.

Aspen Group : Its subsidiaries have reached a global settlement over a party’s claim for RM15 million (S$4.6 million). With this, legal suits against Aspen Vision Land and Aspen Vision City in the High Court of Malaya at Penang, Malaysia, will be withdrawn. The counter closed flat at S$0.032 on Wednesday, before the news.

ValueMax Group : Responding to SGX queries on Wednesday, the company reported that its loans and borrowings were taken to mainly finance its pawning and moneylending businesses. This comes after its significant loans and borrowings of S$610.5 million in the 2022 financial year caught the attention of SGX. Before the response was issued, the counter ended unchanged at S$0.345.

Boustead Projects , Boustead Singapore : The real estate arm of Boustead Singapore said there may not be a public market for shares in the company after the offer by its parent company to acquire its shares at S$0.95 apiece closes on Mar 27. This was in response to SGX queries, published on Wednesday. Shares of Boustead Singapore closed 1.2 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$0.845, while those of Boustead Projects closed flat at S$0.95.

Alpina : The engineering services company has agreed to take over Wan Dormitory for S$24 million. This comes amid a shortage of dormitories in Singapore, said Alpina on Wednesday, adding that the group has faced difficulties in expanding its foreign worker strength due to the lack of available dormitories. The counter closed S$0.001 or 0.5 per cent higher at S$0.20, before the news.