Stocks to watch: CapitaLand, Great Eastern, Infinio, HMI, Cordlife

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

CapitaLand: CapitaLand on Tuesday announced it has acquired the iconic Pearl Bank Apartments in Chinatown for S$728 million. The acquisition which matched the owners' reserve price was done through a private treaty collective sale. With an additional lease top-up premium estimated at S$201.4 million, the sale price translates to a land price of about S$1,515 per square foot per gross floor area. CapitaLand, which posted a net profit of S$267.7 million on Tuesday, said that the 37.8 per cent fall from Q4 2016 came from a lower handover of units for development projects in China, and lower portfolio and fair value gains. CapitaLand closed unchanged at S$3.47 on Monday.

Great Eastern Holdings: Great Eastern's net profit more than doubled to S$423.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2017 on stronger insurance sales, as well as gains from the sale of investments and changes in fair value. On a per share basis, Great Eastern's profit attributable to shareholders rose to 89 Singapore cents for the three months ended Dec 31, up from 42 Singapore cents in the year-ago period. Operating profit from the group's insurance business rose 37 per cent to S$156.1 million for the quarter, and 19 per cent to S$598.7 million for the year. Great Eastern's shares traded 0.49 per cent higher to close at S$29 apiece on Monday.

Infinio Group: Mineral oil and gas firm Infinio is intending to purchase a Kim Chuan Terrace property for S$10.8 million, with the board proposing a change of name for the company. On Tuesday, Infinio said that it has been granted an option to purchase the property, and the purchase consideration will be satisfied fully in cash, through the net proceeds from a share placement that was completed and announced on Feb 1, and a combination of future equity fundraising and bank borrowings. Infinio closed unchanged at 0.8 Singapore cent on Monday.

Health Management International (HMI): Private healthcare provider HMI's second quarter net profit nearly tripled from RM5.33 million to RM15.72 million (S$5.29 million), prompting it to dish out an interim dividend of one sen per share. HMI's stronger bottom line came on the back of an improved performance as well as its increased stake in its two hospitals. Revenue increased 8 per cent year on year to RM115.99 million for the second quarter, on the back of rising patient loads and average bill sizes at Mahkota Medical Centre and Regency Specialist Hospital. Shares in HMI closed at S$0.63 on Monday, up half a cent.

Cordlife Group: Cordlife reported a third consecutive quarterly net profit as its stem cell banking business continues to make inroads in its key markets. It attributed this to growing public awareness, and appreciation of pre-emptive healthcare in Asia. On Monday, the consumer healthcare company said it clocked net profit of S$736,000 for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2017, compared to a net loss of S$2.28 million in the year-ago period. The turnaround came as revenue rose 7.6 per cent year on year to S$16.4 million for the quarter, driven mainly by higher contributions from India, Singapore and the Philippines. Shares of Cordlife closed one Singapore cent higher at 78 cents on Monday.