Stocks to watch: ST Engineering, ESR-Reit, OUE Reit, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, Soilbuild Construction
[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Dec 15):
ST Engineering : Its United States subsidiary, VT San Antonio Aerospace, was one of several companies named in a wrongful death lawsuit on Dec 3. Filed in Kentucky, the lawsuit alleged the maintenance, repair and operations unit’s negligence when maintaining the aircraft. It had performed maintenance on the aircraft from Sep 3 to Oct 18. The company will not comment on pending litigation or legal proceedings and will fully cooperate with authorities in the investigation. Shares of ST Engineering closed 1.6 per cent or S$0.13 higher at S$8.34 on Friday.
ESR-Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) : The Reit’s manager on Monday announced a proposal to divest eight non-core Singapore assets for S$338.1 million as part of its ongoing portfolio rejuvenation and capital-recycling efforts. The price tag represents a 2 per cent premium to the independent valuation of the properties as at Nov 30. The divestment is a part of the Reit’s strategy to divest non-core assets in its portfolio, particularly those with short land-lease tenures. Units of ESR-Reit rose 0.7 per cent to close S$0.02 up at S$2.74 on Friday.
OUE Reit : Its manager announced on Friday that it had entered into a S$100 million unsecured loan facility agreement. The loan will be used to finance capital expenditure, working capital needs, and general corporate funding purposes. It may also be used to refinance the Reit’s other existing unsecured loan facilities, and cover the fees and expenses associated with obtaining the facility. The manager did not elaborate on the maturity date or other details of the facility. Units of OUE Reit closed flat at S$0.35 on Friday, before the news. Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH) : Its trustee-manager said that land currently held by one of its subsidiaries will be acquired by the Chinese government for 15.6 million yuan (S$2.9 million). Around 7,775 square metres of land in Shenzhen owned by Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) will be expropriated by the municipal government. YICT is 56.4 per cent owned by HPH. Units of HPH Trust closed up 2.4 per cent or US$0.005 at US$0.21 on Friday, before the announcement.
Soilbuild Construction : The construction and engineering company on Monday announced a proposed four-for-one stock split to increase its share’s affordability. It currently has an issued and paid-up share capital of around S$107.9 million from about 165.5 million shares. The proposed split comes after a 313 per cent rise in Soilbuild’s share price in the year to date, having closed at S$0.76 at the end of the 2024 calendar year. Shares of Soilbuild closed flat at S$3.14 on Friday.
