Stocks to watch: DBS, OCBC, Singtel, China Everbright, Challenger, Procurri

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

DBS: The bank is counting on its fixed-rate home loans to draw customers and analysts said that this move could still put DBS in a prime spot as the top mortgage bank in Singapore. DBS's latest fixed rate of 1.5 per cent for its two-year, three-year and five-year packages is among the lowest in the market. The counter finished Tuesday at S$22.95, down S$0.14 or 0.6 per cent.

OCBC Bank: The lender on Tuesday evening said it had managed to take a "complex face-to-face process" from being completed at physical meetings to now be settled online. OCBC earlier saw a 45 per cent increase in sales within 10 days of the launch of its virtual wealth advisory service in April amid the "circuit breaker". Shares of OCBC lost S$0.06 or 0.6 per cent to S$9.70 at Tuesday's close.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel): Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Tuesday downgraded Singtel Optus's stand-alone credit profile from BBB+ to BBB to reflect the firm's weaker performance in the financial year ended March 31, 2020. However, S&P affirmed its A- issuer credit and issue-level ratings on Optus, on the grounds that it considers Optus a core subsidiary of Singtel. Singtel shares ended Tuesday at S$2.67 up S$0.03 or 1.1 per cent.

China Everbright Water: The company has cancelled a proposed 1.2 billion yuan (S$235.5 million) first tranche issuance of medium-term notes in light of "recent volatile conditions" in the Chinese bond market, it said in a bourse filing on Tuesday night. It added that the move was to control financing costs. Shares of China Everbright Water finished Tuesday at S$0.23, down S$0.01 or 4.2 per cent.

Challenger Technologies: The consumer electronics retailer on Tuesday guided for revenue for the first half of FY2020 to be "impacted negatively" due to the decline in sales from its physical stores and trade shows. It said the "substantial increase" in online orders during the "circuit-breaker" period had been unable to offset the impact from the closure of its physical stores amid the restrictions. Shares of Challenger closed flat at S$0.46 on Tuesday before the announcement.

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Procurri Corporation: Enterprise hardware supplier Procurri on Tuesday said it expects to report a "substantially weaker performance" for the first half this year compared to a year ago. This is mainly due to the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, and a "slow start" this year after discussions to sell its third-party maintenance business to Park Place Technologies fizzled out. Procurri shares closed at 31 Singapore cents on Tuesday, down 0.5 cent or 1.6 per cent, before the profit guidance was issued.    

AEM Holdings: Mainboard-listed AEM on Tuesday announced that Leong Sook Han will be its chief financial officer from June 15. She is expected to strengthen AEM's financial management and reporting capabilities as the group strives for global leadership in advanced test solutions. The counter closed at S$3.09 on Tuesday.

Trading halt: Both Perennial Real Estate Holdings and Addvalue Technologies called for trading halts on Wednesday morning pending the release of their respective announcements. Perennial shares finished Tuesday at 69 Singapore cents, while Addvalue shares closed at 2.7 cents.