Stocks to watch: Wilmar, Emperador, Olam, Golden Agri, Haw Par, HPL, Yangzijiang Financial, AEM

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Aug 14):

Wilmar International : The agribusiness group posted on Friday a 52.7 per cent drop in net profit for the half year ended June 2023 to US$551 million, from US$1.2 billion last year. This was attributed to lower contributions from food products and feed, as well as industrial products. Shares of Wilmar fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.03 to S$3.81, before the announcement.

Emperador : The Philippine liquor giant reported on Friday an 11 per cent climb in revenue to 31 billion pesos (S$742 million) in the first half of this year from a year ago, due to its stellar whiskey performance. The counter closed flat at S$0.515, after the announcement. 

Olam Group : The agri food giant posted on Friday an 88.8 per cent decline in net profit to S$48 million from S$429.1 million in the year-ago period, due to a one-off exceptional loss on lower almond yields in Australia. Its board of directors has declared an interim dividend of S$0.03 per share, which will be paid out on Aug 28, for the period under review, down from S$0.04 per share last year. Its shares closed flat at S$1.31, before the announcement.

Golden Agri-Resources : The mainboard-listed palm oil company on Monday posted a 55.4 per cent drop in Q2 profit to US$90 million from US$202 million in the same period last year, after revenue dropped 16.2 per cent to US$2.3 billion from US$2.8 billion. This was mainly due to the normalisation of crude palm oil prices and a slowdown in production. Shares of Golden Agri closed flat at S$0.25.

Haw Par Corporation : The mainboard-listed group posted on Friday a 34.9 per cent rise in net profit to S$104.1 million for the six months ended Jun 30, 2023, from S$77.2 million in the year-ago period. The board has proposed an interim dividend of S$0.20 per share for H1 FY2023, which will be paid out on Sep 7. Shares of Haw Par closed at S$9.88, up 0.7 per cent or S$0.07, before the announcement.

Hotel Properties Limited (HPL): The group posted on Friday a S$17.2 million net loss for its first half-year ended Jun 30, reversing from a net profit of S$1.9 million posted in the corresponding year-ago period. This was due to higher borrowing costs, the company said. Its shares closed at S$3.65, down S$0.01 or 0.3 per cent, before the announcement.

Yangzijiang Financial Holding : The company posted on Saturday a net profit of S$162.5 million for the first half of the fiscal year ended June, up 19.2 per cent from S$136.4 million in the corresponding year-ago period. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to S$0.0439 from S$0.0345. Shares of Yangzijiang Financial ended flat at S$0.36. 

AEM Holdings : The semiconductor equipment maker posted a drop of 76 per cent in net profit to S$19.7 million for H1 FY2023 from S$82.8 million a year prior. Earnings per share dipped to S$0.0637 for the half year, from S$0.2678 for H1 FY2022. The group’s shares closed at S$3.42, down 0.9 per cent or S$0.03, before the earnings report.