Stocks to watch: UOB, Aspen, Oxley, Hiap Seng, Alpha Energy, Rich Capital

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their shares on Monday:

United Overseas Bank (UOB): Global private capital platform CapBridge has inked a deal with UOB to offer a range of private capital solutions to private, high-growth companies in Singapore and in the bank's key markets, including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. This is CapBridge's maiden collaboration with a Singapore bank to provide companies with such alternative financing solutions, and draws upon the combined market expertise of two Singapore-headquartered financial institutions and the country's strength as a global financial centre, the two parties announced on Sunday evening. UOB shares closed at S$26.32 on Friday, up 0.4 per cent, or 10 Singapore cents.

Aspen Group Holdings, Oxley Holdings: Catalist-listed Malaysian developer Aspen Group announced over the weekend that it is teaming up with mainboard-listed Oxley Holdings to develop a mixed-use integrated project in Penang. The project is proposed to be developed in phases, comprising residential towers with communal facilities, serviced apartments, lifestyle retail facilities and a private clubhouse. Aspen Group said in a news release that it expects this new development to be the key driver in contributing to its topline and bottomline from 2021. Aspen shares last traded at 14.3 Singapore cents, while Oxley shares last traded at 33 cents, up 3.1 per cent, or one cent.

Rex International: Rex International's 90 per cent-owned subsidiary Lime Petroleum AS inked an agreement on June 21 with DEA Norge to acquire 30 per cent interest each in two drilling licences, PL838 and PL838B, in the Norwegian Sea, the oilfield services firm said in a bourse filing on Monday. The transfer of the interests is pending regulatory approval, with exploration drilling on the licences expected in Q4 2019. Shares in Catalist-listed Rex International closed at 7.2 Singapore cents on Friday, up 1.4 per cent, or 0.1 cent.

Hiap Seng Engineering: Mainboard-listed Hiap Seng Engineering on Monday said it expects to post a net loss for both its fiscal fourth-quarter and full year ended March 31, 2019, following a preliminary review of the company's unaudited financial results. It added that further details of the group's performance will be disclosed when it releases its financial statements by June 30. The counter last traded at 5.8 Singapore cents, down 22.7 per cent, or 1.7 cents on Friday.

Trading halts: Catalist-listed firms Alpha Energy and Rich Capital have each requested for a trading halt on Monday morning, before market open, pending the release of announcements.

Oil and gas firm Alpha Energy's latest bourse filing was on June 8, when it announced that it was restructuring a loan from ING Capital. Alpha Energy said it will repay the loan balance of US$13.3 million in quarterly instalments of US$600,000 starting June 15, 2020. Shares of Alpha Energy closed unchanged at 5.4 Singapore cents on Friday.

Meanwhile, mining company Rich Capital most recently announced on June 14 that it was in the process of receiving a S$2 million advance payment guarantee from an associate company relating to a development project in Batam, Indonesia. Shares of Rich Capital closed up 0.2 Singapore cent or 200 per cent to 0.3 cent on Friday.