Stocks to watch: Keppel Corp, Atlantic Navigation Holdings (S), ASTI Holdings

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

Keppel Corporation: Keppel Corp expects to complete the 2.9 billion yuan (S$598 million) disposal of its stake in a China marina project on Monday after it collects the final S$7 million of the consideration amount. Keppel, a conglomerate with businesses in property and rigbuilding, said that it has collected about 2.87 billion yuan of the consideration, denominated in about 451 million yuan and S$496 million. The remaining S$7 million was expected to be received on Monday. Wrapping up the sale of its 80 per cent stake in the Keppel Cove residential and marina development in Zhongshan City, China, has come with some difficulty for Keppel, which had faced attempts by the minority shareholder of the project to block the deal. Keppel Corp last traded at S$7.77 on Friday, up 11 Singapore cents.

Atlantic Navigation Holdings (Singapore): The firm said before Monday's trading hours it has entered into an US$8.5 million loan agreement, while a deal involving the sale of a substantial equity interest in the company is off the table. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic Maritime Group Fze, has on March 28, signed a loan agreement with Mubarak Abdullah Al-Suwaiket for the grant of a loan with principal amount of US$8.5 million. Separately, a deal calling for the sale of a substantial equity stake in Atlantic Navigation to Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC is no longer on the table, because the parties involved could not reach an agreement on the definitive terms. Shares in the counter last traded unchanged at 15 Singapore cents apiece on Feb 27.

ASTI Holdings: Mainboard-listed ASTI Holdings said it has on March 30 entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment, to sell its core semiconductor technologies and instruments businesses, collectively known as the STI Group, for S$90 million in cash, plus an additional S$38 million in dividends. This consideration is subject to adjustments for changes to the disposed businesses' balance sheet and expected profitability. Earnings per share is expected to increase to 6.65 Singapore cents after the proposed disposal, compared to a loss per share of 0.67 Singapore cent before the disposal. Shares in ASTI last traded 10.6 per cent, or 0.7 Singapore cent higher to 7.3 Singapore cents apiece on March 29.