Stocks to watch: Keppel, Nanofilm, Sheng Siong, ESR-Reit, Japfa, ART

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

Keppel Corp: The conglomerate turned the corner sequentially in the third quarter after posting record losses in the preceding period. Revenue came in at S$4.82 billion for the first nine months. Keppel shares dropped S$0.07 or 1.6 per cent to close at S$4.27 on Thursday, before the announcement.

Nanofilm Technologies: The tech unicorn, with Temasek Holdings as a substantial shareholder, will make its Singapore public debut on Friday as trading in the stock begins at 9am. Nanofilm on Thursday night said it received applications from retail investors for 30.6 times the number of shares available in the public portion of its initial public offering.

Sheng Siong Group: The supermarket operator's net profit rose 54.4 per cent from a year ago to S$31.8 million for the quarter ended Sept 30. Sheng Siong shares were flat at S$1.65 at Thursday's close, before the business update.

ESR-Reit: Its distribution per unit (DPU) fell by 20.2 per cent to 0.798 Singapore cent for the third quarter this year, from one cent a year ago, ESR-Reit announced on Friday morning. Units of ESR-Reit tumbled 4.2 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents to close at 34.5 cents on Thursday.

Japfa: Net profit for the industrial agri-food firm's first nine months of this year jumped to US$130 million - almost six times that of US$22.4 million a year ago - driven by its China dairy unit and swine business in Vietnam. Japfa shares rose 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.8 per cent to close at 62.5 cents, before the results were released.

Ascott Residence Trust (ART): Long-stay properties and domestic markets are expected to continue to drive its gradual recovery, the stapled hospitality group's managers said on Friday. They added that property valuations will likely be depressed. ART stapled securities ended Thursday at 82.5 Singapore cents, losing 2.5 cents or 2.9 per cent.

CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT): Its third-quarter net property income sank by 57.4 per cent year on year to S$15.2 million, as total revenue from master leases and managed hotels declined by 38.7 per cent across its markets, CDLHT's managers said in an operational update on Friday. The counter lost S$0.03 or 2.9 per cent to finish Thursday at S$0.99.

Far East Hospitality Trust (FEHT): The stapled group's income available for distribution fell by 31.9 per cent to S$37.7 million for the first nine months of this year, from S$55.4 million for the year-ago period, FEHT managers said on Friday. FEHT closed unchanged at 56.5 Singapore cents on Thursday.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT): Its DPU for the six months to Sept 30 fell 26 per cent on the year to 2.876 Singapore cents. Net property income slumped 17.7 per cent, mainly due to rental reliefs granted to tenants at the Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong. MNACT units closed two Singapore cents or 2.2 per cent lower at 88.5 cents, before the announcement.

Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Reit: Its manager on Friday said 58 per cent of leases by gross rental income expiring in fiscal 2020 has been renewed. In addition, the manager expects rental contributions from New Tech Park's asset enhancement initiative to start from Q2 next year. The counter closed down 2.8 per cent or one Singapore cent to 34.5 cents.

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