Stocks to watch: DBS, Best World, iFast, Raffles Medical, Thakral, No Signboard, Ayondo

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

DBS Group: It reported a 9 per cent increase in net profit for its first quarter to S$1.65 billion, from S$1.52 billion for the year-ago period. Earnings per share came in at S$2.58, compared to S$2.38 previously. DBS declared a 30 Singapore cents per share dividend, consistent with fiscal 2018's full-year payout of S$1.20 per share. The bank said its board has decided to pay dividends on a quarterly basis instead of semi-annual dividends from fiscal 2019 onwards to provide shareholders with a more regular income stream. DBS shares closed up 0.59 per cent or S$0.16 at S$27.41 on Friday.

Best World: It has been granted approval by the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) regulatory arm to get more time to hold its annual general meeting (AGM). It has a two-month extension till June 30, 2019 for the company to convene the AGM. Best World will also have until June 16, 2019, to issue its annual report to shareholders. The company is the fresh target of a shortseller that probed the accounting behind the skincare product seller's profits and its sales practices. Best World shares closed unchanged at S$1.62 on Friday.

iFast Corp: The wealth management fintech platform on Saturday posted a 41.8 per cent decline in its bottom line to S$1.6 million for the three months ended March 31, from a net profit of S$2.75 million for the year-ago period. This translates to an earnings per share of 0.60 Singapore cent for the first quarter, compared to 1.04 Singapore cents for the previous year. The board of iFast declared a first interim dividend per share of 0.75 Singapore cent for the first quarter, the same as fiscal 2018's Q1. iFast shares closed up 2.63 per cent, or three Singapore cents, at S$1.17 on Friday.

Raffles Medical Group: Raffles Medical on Monday morning reported a 13.7 per cent decrease in its first-quarter net profit to S$13.6 million from S$15.8 million a year ago, due to startup costs for Raffles Hospital Chongqing. The group's revenue for the three months ended March 31 increased 6.7 per cent year on year to S$128.3 million. Earnings per share for Q1 was 0.76 Singapore cent, down from 0.89 cent previously. No dividend was declared for the first quarter ended March 31. Its shares closed unchanged at S$1.07 on Friday.

Thakral Corp: Its founding family recently succeeded in boosting its control over the listed firm, and expects to invest equally in Australian and Japan real estate over the long term. As part of this strategy, the firm said it would eventually sell its real estate investments in China when targeted price levels are achieved, with proceeds of sale likely to be invested in Japan. Thakral said this on Sunday in response to queries from Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or SIAS, over the group's annual report for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018. Thakral shares closed up 19.57 per cent, or S$0.09, at S$0.55 on Friday.

No Signboard: The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has launched a probe into No Signboard Holdings' recent share buyback and obtained statements from the restaurant group's key executives, the company announced on Monday before the market opened. No Signboard said that it is "fully cooperating" with the CAD after receiving requests on April 24 to assist investigations into a Jan 31, 2019 purchase by the company of its own shares. Those shares were bought at a price that was above the regulatory limit on share buybacks and purchased during a black-out period. In a separate announcement, No Signboard has requested for a lifting of its trading halt which was called on April 24. Its shares closed unchanged at S$0.084 on Friday.

Ayondo: The Catalist-listed fintech company has been served a writ of summons and a statement of claim from its former CEO, Robert Lempka, that alleged a repudiatory breach of the termination agreement between the company and him. This is over a sum of S$165,800 for which Mr Lempka has claimed Ayondo failed to make payment under the termination agreement. Ayondo shares closed flat at S$0.048 on Friday.