Stocks to watch: Keppel Corp, Sembcorp Marine, Q&M Dental

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

Keppel Corporation: Keppel O&M disclosed on Saturday that it will pay US$422 million in fines as part of a global resolution for a corruption probe across three jurisdictions in Singapore, Brazil and the US. Sete Brasil was behind about US$10 billion of rig-building contracts that were awarded to Keppel O&M and Sembcorp Marine. The Sete Brasil contracts have come under review in a US Department of Justice investigation over alleged corrupt payments by a former agent of Keppel O&M in Brazil.

Separately, Keppel Corp on Tuesday said its planned 2.9 billion yuan (S$590 million) disposal of its stake in a China marina project remains stalled as the project's minority shareholder continues to try to block the deal. The counter closed two Singapore cents up at S$7.47 last Friday.

Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine): SembMarine could face heat spilling over from probes involving Sete Brasil, though to date, no evidence compromising the yard group's standing has been cited yet. Both Keppel O&M and SembMarine have maintained that their Sete Brasil rig-building contracts are still legally standing.

Separately, SembMarine on Tuesday said it has sold the semi-submersible rig West Rigel for US$500 million (S$672 million), taking a S$24 million loss after the original customer filed for bankruptcy protection. The sale is still subject to conditions being met by both buyer and seller. SembMarine last traded at S$1.94 apiece on Friday.

Q&M Dental Group (Singapore): The dental clinic operator has concluded a 10-month strategic review with no change to the status quo, the company announced on Monday. The strategic review was commissioned in February as part of a "commitment to enhance shareholder value", Q&M said at the time. The counter last traded at S$0.62 a share on Friday.