Stocks to watch: Keppel Reit, Amplefield, No Signboard, Marco Polo Marine, Delong, Creative

THE following companies saw new developments which may affect trading of their shares on Friday:

Keppel Reit: Keppel Reit is divesting a 20 per cent stake in Ocean Financial Centre to Allianz Real Estate for S$537.3 million, retaining a majority 79.9 per cent interest in the property, its manager Keppel Reit Management said on Friday. The agreed purchase price of S$537.3 million is 16.8 per cent or S$77.1 million higher than the historical purchase price of S$460.2 million, and net gain is estimated at S$6.9 million after deducting transaction costs, said the Reit manager. It believes the sale will help it realise capital gains for its unitholders, while maintaining exposure to a strengthening Singapore office market. Units in Keppel Reit closed at S$1.16 apiece on Thursday, up 1.8 per cent, or two Singapore cents.

Amplefield: Catalist-listed Amplefield posted a net profit of S$620,000 for the year ended Sept 30, reversing the previous year's loss of S$612,000, the property developer and construction services provider announced on Thursday night. Revenue for the year was S$11.2 million, almost nine times the previous year's S$1.3 million figure. Earnings per share (EPS) was 0.08 Singapore cent, compared to the previous year's loss per share (LPS) of 0.18 Singapore cent. No dividend was declared. Amplefield shares closed down 0.1 Singapore cent or 4.3 per cent at 2.2 Singapore cents on Thursday before the announcement.

No Signboard: A massive impairment charge for a beer business dragged No Signboard Holdings into the red for fiscal year 2018. Net loss for the 12 months ended Sept 30 was S$2.31 million, compared to a net profit of S$7.72 million for the previous year. LPS for FY18 was 0.5 Singapore cent, a reversal from EPS of 1.67 Singapore cents for FY17. Revenue went up by 8.6 per cent to S$26.5 million as increased contribution from the beer business more than offset a decline in the restaurant business. But the group booked S$4.31 million in impairment charges for FY18 after the restructuring and rebranding of the beer business. No Signboard closed 0.3 Singapore cent down at 13.7 cents on Thursday.

Marco Polo Marine: Marco Polo Marine turned black for the financial year ended Sept 30 on dramatically higher operating income due to derecognised debts and a foreign exchange gain. Full-year net profit was S$168.98 million, reversing from a loss of S$312.69 million for the previous year. EPS was 6.74 Singapore cents for FY18, compared to LPS of 92.91 Singapore cents for FY17. Revenue fell 31 per cent to S$26.56 million on lower contributions from both divisions - ship chartering and shipbuilding and repair operations. The counter closed at 2.3 Singapore cents on Thursday, down 4.2 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent.

Delong Holdings: The Chinese steelmaker warned its revenue may fall by about 316 million yuan (S$62.4 million) this year and 887 million yuan next year on reduced output from the shut-in of one blast furnace in China's Xingtai City. The firm said after Thursday's trading close that it expects to stop production at the blast furnace from Nov 30, 2018, through to March 31, 2019. The counter last traded at S$6.42 apiece, down 1.2 per cent or eight Singapore cents.

Creative Technology: Creative has partnered a Singapore-based video publishing platform to promote its much-vaunted Super X-Fi audio technology, the home-grown consumer electronics company said on Thursday. The company most recently reported a net loss of US$6.1 million for the three months to Sept 30, with turnover down by 18 per cent year-on-year to US$13.2 million. But it has touted Super X-Fi sales as an expected source of revenue growth in the coming quarters. Shares in Creative last traded at S$5.69 on Thursday, down 0.4 per cent, or two Singapore cents.