Stocks to watch: Great Eastern, Singapore Press Holdings, SPH Reit, Shangri-La, AEM

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

Great Eastern Holdings: The insurer on Wednesday night said it is offering a six-month grace period for life insurance premium payments, for Singapore customers whose incomes have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Great Eastern shares fell S$0.17 or 1 per cent to S$17.60 at Wednesday's close.

Singapore Press Holdings (SPH): The media and property group now allows students living in its purpose-built student accommodation properties in the UK to leave their tenancies early for the academic year 2019/20. SPH shares closed at S$1.78 on Wednesday, down S$0.05 or 2.7 per cent, before the announcement.

SPH Reit: SPH Reit will distribute just 0.3 Singapore cent per unit for its second quarter ended Feb 29, 2020. Its manager said the distribution was "modest considering the challenging circumstances arising from the Covid-19 situation for the months ahead". SPH Reit units ended trading at S$0.75 on Wednesday, down S$0.02 or 2.6 per cent, before the results were released.

Shangri-La Asia: The Hong-Kong based hospitality company on Wednesday said it will temporarily suspend its operations in both its Bangkok and Chiang Mai hotels for a minimum of one month. The counter closed unchanged at HK$5.95 on Wednesday.

AEM Holdings: The mainboard-listed company, which provides advanced chip-testing solutions, has named Chandran Nair as its chief executive officer, with the post taking effect on July 1. He takes over from Chok Yean Hung, who is retiring that day. Shares of AEM closed down S$0.03, or 1.8 per cent to S$1.64 on Wednesday.

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Golden Energy and Resources: The mainboard-listed group's subsidiary on Thursday announced a renewed a takeover attempt for Australia-listed Stanmore Coal. Golden Energy shares closed at 19.7 Singapore cents on Wednesday, up two cents or 11.3 per cent.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT): Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on LMIRT to negative from stable, it said in a note on Wednesday night. The credit rating agency also affirmed the Ba3 corporate family rating of the retail real estate investment trust (Reit). Units of LMIRT fell 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.9 per cent to finish at 11.6 cents on Wednesday.

Biolidics: The Singapore-based cancer-diagnostics company has obtained the relevant authorisation for the use of its Covid-19 rapid test kit in the Philippines from its Food and Drug Administration. Shares of Catalist-listed Biolidics closed down 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.9 per cent to 27 cents on Wednesday, before the announcement.

Trading halt: The Trendlines Group on Thursday called for a trading halt pending an announcement. Trendlines shares closed at 7.3 Singapore cents on Wednesday, down 0.3 cent or 3.9 per cent.