Stocks to watch: DBS, MCT, HPH Trust, SATS, Del Monte, Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit

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

DBS: Through its Australia branch, DBS Bank will offer three-year A$700 million (S$660.7 million) senior unsecured floating-rate notes at par, and to pay a quarterly coupon consisting of the three-month Bank Bill Swap reference rate (BBSW) plus a spread of 63 basis points. The notes will be issued on Sept 13, and are expected to hold investment grade ratings. Shares of DBS Group ended trading on Thursday at S$24.63, up nine cents or 0.37 per cent.

Mapletree Commercial Trust, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust: Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) will soon join the Singapore bourse's benchmark Straits Times Index, with effect from Sept 23, replacing Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust). This will bring the combined weightage of the four Reits in the index to around 8 per cent, said Singapore Exchange's market strategist Geoff Howie. Units of MCT closed up three cents to S$2.28 on Thursday, while units of HPH Trust were flat at S$0.22.

SATS: The ground handler and in-flight catering services provider said on Thursday evening that it had acquired the remaining 49 per cent in its food-distribution joint venture SAT BRF Food (SBRF) for S$17 million from BRF GmbH. This will allow SATS to accelerate its end-to-end traceability of raw materials for customers and deploy data analytics, said SATS president and chief executive Alex Hungate. SBRF has been renamed Country Foods Pte Ltd. Shares of SATS closed down one cent or 0.21 per cent to S$4.79 on Thursday, before the acquisition was announced.

Del Monte Pacific: The mainboard-listed company swung to a net loss of US$38.3 million for its first quarter ended July 31, from a US$3 million net profit a year ago, according to a filing on Friday morning. This came amid lower sales in the US and lower exports of processed pineapple products. Del Monte shares closed down S$0.002 or 1.5 per cent to S$0.135 on Thursday.

Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit: Keppel-KBS US Reit has changed its name to Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit, effective Thursday, amid a reorganisation of its asset management team. The real estate investment trust's (Reit) counter name on the Singapore Exchange will be changed to KepPacOakReitUSD starting from Sept 10. After the reorganisation, the Reit will sign a new outsourcing management agreement with the new US asset manager, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, which will employ the team that currently provides asset management services under the existing outsourcing agreement. Before the announcement, units of the Reit closed at S$0.74 on Thursday, down 1.5 cents or 1.99 per cent.

Fortress Minerals: The Catalist-listed iron ore concentrate producer said on Thursday after market close that its Malaysian subsidiary, Fortress Mining Sdn Bhd, was served a writ of summons relating to an accident at the Bukit Besi Mine which resulted in the death of a plant operator. The writ of summons from the Kuala Terengganu Session Court in Malaysia was dated Aug 21. The court fixed a return date on Sept 23. The company is seeking legal advice. Shares of Fortress Minerals last traded at S$0.23 on Aug 28.

Stamford Tyres Corporation: The mainboard-listed firm's net profit rose 12.5 per cent to S$126,000 for the first quarter ended July 31. Earnings per share was flat at 0.05 Singapore cent. Total revenue fell 4.87 per cent mainly due to lower sales in North Asia, although total operating expenses shrank 5.1 per cent amid lower staff costs, marketing and distribution costs, and foreign exchange costs. Shares of Stamford Tyres closed flat at S$0.24 on Thursday, before the results were released.

San Teh Ltd: The Kao family that owns San Teh has made a voluntary conditional cash offer for the mainboard-listed firm in a bid to delist it, the company said on Thursday evening. The Kaos are offering S$0.28 in cash for each San Teh share, in a deal that values San Teh at S$95.8 million. On Tuesday, San Teh called for a trading halt after its shares closed 6.94 per cent higher at 15.4 Singapore cents. It requested to lift the trading halt on Friday morning.

Sevak: The mainboard-listed IT solutions company on Thursday evening announced that its group chief executive officer (CEO), Maneesh Tripathi, has also taken on the role of executive chairman, effective Friday. Mr Tripathi will continue to hold the group CEO position concurrently. Shares of Sevak were flat at S$2.83 at Thursday's close.