Stocks to watch: Keppel, SGX, Singapore Airlines, DBS, OCBC, UOB

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

Keppel Corporation: The Temasek Holdings unit that last October made a voluntary pre-conditional partial offer for Keppel will decide by end-August whether to invoke the material adverse change pre-condition based on Keppel's second quarter results. Last Thursday, Keppel posted a quarterly net loss of S$697.6 million - breaching certain conditions for Temasek's S$4 billion pre-conditional partial offer. Keppel shares lost S$0.20 or 2.6 per cent to end at S$5.40 on Thursday, before the results were announced.


Singapore Exchange (SGX): The bourse operator on Thursday evening surprised with a proposed final quarterly dividend of 8.0 cents per share, up from 7.5 cents a year ago, on a strong set of results. Chief executive officer Loh Boon Chye reiterated the aim to pay a growing and sustainable dividend. SGX shares were trading at S$8.28 as at 9.03am on Monday, up S$0.11 or 1.4 per cent.


DBS, OCBC Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB): Analysts said net profit is widely expected to come down for Singapore banks in the second quarter, with growing pressure as well to pull back on dividend payouts amid the regulator's call to shore up capital.

Separately, DBS on Sunday said it is ramping up digital financial planning solutions and tools to empower Singaporeans for a head start in retirement planning and to boost their financial resilience.

Meanwhile, Xihe Group plans to embark on a "consensual restructuring" with lenders and sell some of its vessels. This comes ahead of a hearing on Aug 13 where Hin Leong creditor OCBC is seeking to place Xihe and four vessel-owning units under judicial management.

Shares of DBS ended Thursday at S$19.77, down S$0.63 or 3.1 per cent. OCBC slid 3.8 per cent or S$0.34 to S$8.56, while UOB lost 3.2 per cent or S$0.63 to S$19.39.


Singapore Airlines: The airline has implemented more measures to slash costs after posting a record quarterly loss, including deeper pay cuts for the bosses, a 10 per cent salary reduction for other employees, and early retirement for pilots and ground staff, according to a staff memo seen by The Business Times (BT) on Thursday. SIA shares ended Thursday at S$3.42, down S$0.11 or 3.1 per cent.


Jardine Cycle & Carriage (Jardine C&C): The company saw a steep 66 per cent drop in its underlying profit to US$138 million for H1 FY2020 ended June due to a slump in car sales amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The counter ended Thursday flat at S$20.00, before the results were announced.


ESR-Reit, Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit): Activist fund Quarz Capital Management is arguing that the implied offer price in ESR-Reit's offer to buy out Sabana Reit unitholders is too low. Meanwhile, Sabana Reit's manager said late on Thursday that market weakness and uncertainty have driven down the fair value of its investment properties, after a query over the S$54.7 million decline in value reported in its results. ESR-Reit fell 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent to close at 39 cents on Thursday, while Sabana Reit dropped 0.5 cent or 1.3 per cent to finish at 38 cents.


Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Manulife US Reit): Manulife US Reit's distribution per unit edged up by 0.3 per cent to 3.05 US cents for its first half of the year ended June 30, 2020, from 3.04 US cents a year ago, according to results released on Monday. Units of the trust closed US$0.02 or 2.7 per cent higher at US$0.77 on Thursday.


Alliance Healthcare: The Catalist-listed company plans to double down on its managed healthcare segment, which could allow it to develop a higher-margin and more scalable business, executive chairman and chief executive officer Barry Thng told BT. The counter last closed on July 27 at 16.9 Singapore cents.


Wilmar International: The oil palm giant forsees challenges recruiting workers amid Malayia's freeze on labour recruitment and border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shares of Wilmar ended Thursday at S$4.62, down S$0.02 or 0.4 per cent.

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