Stocks to watch: Venture Corp, Frasers Hospitality Trust, BRC Asia, OUE Healthcare, Elite Commercial Reit

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Aug 7):

Venture Corporation : The technology company on Friday reported a net profit of S$140 million for the first half of the year ended June, down 19.7 per cent year on year. Its board of directors has declared an interim dividend of S$0.25 per share, unchanged from the previous year. Shares of Venture fell 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to close at S$14.38, ahead of the results announcement.

Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT): The stapled group observed a “sustained recovery” in its markets for its third fiscal quarter ended June, with revenue per available room for its Singapore portfolio rising to S$283 in Q3 from S$225 in the year-ago period. Stapled securities of FHT closed flat at S$0.48 on Friday, before the business update.

BRC Asia : The steel solutions provider posted a profit after tax of S$22.6 million for the third quarter ended June, up 10.9 per cent from the year-ago period. The stronger profit for Q3 was despite a 10.8 per cent drop in revenue to S$459.8 million. Shares of BRC Asia rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to close on Friday at S$1.67 on a cum-dividend basis, before the results announcement.

OUE Healthcare : The Catalist-listed healthcare group posted earnings of S$1.8 million for the first half of the year ended June. This was 79 per cent lower on the year despite higher revenue, as cost of sales rose to S$18.2 million from S$3.1 million on the consolidation of First Real Estate Investment Trust and other medical partners. Prior to the news on Friday, shares of OUE Healthcare closed flat at S$0.032.

Elite Commercial Reit : Its manager on Monday announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.74 pence for the first half ended Jun 30, after retaining 10 per cent of distributable income. The latest DPU figure represents a 32 per cent decline from 2.56 pence in the same period a year earlier. Units of Elite Commercial Reit closed £0.015 or 5 per cent lower at £0.285 on Friday.

Trading halt: The manager of Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust called for a halt in the trading of its units on Monday morning, ahead of its Aug 7 extraordinary general meeting.