Stocks to watch: Ezra, Raffles Education, China Aviation Oil

THE following stocks had announcements that could affect trading activity on Friday.

Ezra Holdings' net profit for Q1 FY15 jumped 7.57 times to US$54.4 million while revenue slumped 6 per cent to US$321 million. The surge in profit was due to one-off gain of US$106.3 million from the acquisition of subsidiaries and a foreign exchange gain of US$9.4 million. The increase was partially offset by the one-off loss on step up of associated and joint venture companies to subsidiaries of US$42.3 million and a one-off impairment of fixed assets of US$10 million as compared to Q1 FY14.

Raffles Education Corporation announced its subsidiary Oriental University City's share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Market. The listing is expected to raise gross proceeds of HK$118.8 million, including net proceeds of HK$77.8 million, to construct new dormitories on the campus site. It plans to ride on the back of China's ongoing economic restructuring, which will generate greater need for skilled labour, and potentially increase demand for education facilities.

China Aviation Oil (Singapore) on Thursday said that its financial performance will be poorer for Q4 FY14, compared to Q3 FY14, and its FY14 results will also be weaker compared to FY13. This is mainly due to the highly volatile global oil market and a difficult oil trading environment, it said. It added that the company continues to be profitable, and it will announce its Q4 FY14 and FY14 financial results on Feb 12, 2015.