Stocks to watch: Ascendas Reit, Keppel, Japfa, Sunpower, LMIRT

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Wednesday:

Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (Ascendas Reit): The Reit posted a lower distribution per unit of 7.418 Singapore cents for its second half ended Dec 31, 2020, from 7.485 cents a year ago. Its manager also signalled a continued flattish to low positive single-digit rent reversion in FY2021 for its portfolio in Singapore, Australia, the UK and US. The counter ended S$0.03 or 1 per cent higher at S$3.10 on Tuesday, before the announcement.

Keppel Corporation: Its asset management arm has launched a China logistics property fund together with a global institutional investor, with an initial total equity commitment of around 1.4 billion yuan (S$288.8 million). Shares of Keppel Corp closed at S$5.10 on Tuesday, up 4.1 per cent or S$0.20, before the announcement.

Japfa: The mainboard-listed agri-food company completed the disposal of its 80 per cent interest in Greenfields Dairy Singapore. Japfa intends to utilise part of the consideration received to pay a special interim dividend of S$0.10 per share. Japfa shares closed at S$0.91 on Tuesday, up 1.7 per cent or 1.5 cents, before the announcement.

Sunpower Group: The environmental solutions company won a 141 million yuan (S$29.1 million) manufacturing and services contract from an existing customer in the polycrystalline silicon industry. Shares of mainboard-listed Sunpower closed two Singapore cents or 2.2 per cent higher at 92.5 cents on Tuesday, before the announcement.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT): It said on Wednesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, LMIRT Capital, has raised US$200 million from its second bond offering to finance the acquisition of the Lippo Mall Puri and service maturing loans. LMIRT units closed at 6.4 Singapore cents on Tuesday, up 0.1 cent or 1.6 per cent.

Yoma Strategic, Memories Group: Both companies said that the political situation in Myanmar remains unclear at this stage, and warned of a potential change in business sentiment in late-night filings on Tuesday. Yoma said its business services have resumed operations, while Memories' hotel asset Awei Metta remains open and continues to receive guests. Yoma and Memories last traded at 27.5 Singapore cents and 4.1 Singapore cents respectively, before calling for trading halts on Monday morning. Both counters will resume trading today.

CFM Holdings: The Catalist-listed metal-stamping firm expects to record a higher net loss after tax for the half year ended Dec 31, due to a decline in gross profit margin. Its net loss is expected to widen in the first half of FY2021 despite higher revenue, higher other income and lower operating expenses, the company said. The counter closed at 3.8 Singapore cents on Tuesday, down 0.4 cent or 9.5 per cent.