Stocks to watch: Keppel, ThaiBev, MNACT, ComfortDelGro, ST Engineering

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

Keppel Corporation: It will be restructuring subsidiary Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) into a slimmer, more asset-light one. Keppel will exit the offshore rig building business after completing existing rigs under construction. The group also posted a net profit of S$31.3 million for its second-half ended Dec 31, 2020, down 91.1 per cent from a year ago. Keppel's shares closed at S$5.46 on Thursday, down S$0.12 or 2.2 per cent, prior to the announcement.

Thai Beverage (ThaiBev): The beer and liquor giant's brewery unit is heading for a listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), Bloomberg reported. The report cited sources with knowledge of the matter saying the company is seeking a valuation of about US$10 billion for the unit, with the listing possibly taking place as soon as the second quarter. ThaiBev was among the most heavily traded counters on Thursday, with over 49 million shares changing hands. The counter ended the day at S$0.82, up S$0.02 or 2.5 per cent.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT): Its net property income jumped 49 per cent to S$75.7 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2020. MNACT's units closed at 97.5 Singapore cents on Thursday, down 1.5 Singapore cents or 1.5 per cent, prior to the release of its business update.

CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT): Formerly known as CapitaLand Retail China Trust up until its name change on Thursday, the trust reported a H2 DPU of 3.33 Singapore cents for the second half of the financial year ended December 2020. This represents a 30.2 per cent year on year decline from its H2 2019 DPU of 4.77 cents. The latest H2 distribution includes the release of income retained in H1 2020 as well as compensation received by CapitaMall Erqi retained in FY 2019. Units of CLCT closed Thursday at S$1.42, S$0.01 or 0.7 per cent down, before the announcement.

ComfortDelGro Corporation: Its taxi business will be embarking on a beta trial of its new ride-hailing service on Feb 4, the company announced on Thursday. The move, which will serve to supplement ComfortDelGro's current fleet of 10,000 taxis, will involve a small number of private hire cars as the company gauges reception to the service. Shares of ComfortDelGro closed 2.5 per cent or S$0.04 lower on Thursday at S$1.59.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (OUE C-Reit): The Reit on Thursday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.43 Singapore cents for the second half of the fiscal year ended December 2020, down 12.3 per cent from 1.63 Singapore cents in the year-ago period. Units in OUE C-Reit ended Thursday at 38.5 Singapore cents, down 1.3 per cent or 0.5 cent, before the announcement.

Starhill Global Reit: It will pay out a DPU of 1.88 Singapore cents for the first half-year ended Dec 31, 2020, down 16.8 per cent from a year ago. Units of Starhill Global Reit closed at 50.5 Singapore cents on Thursday, down one Singapore cent or 2 per cent, prior to the announcement.

Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT): Its manager said in a business update that it is confident in the long-term fundamentals of the markets it has presence in - Singapore, Australia, UK, Japan, Malaysia and Germany - and will continue to prepare for the eventual recovery of international tourism. FHT's units ended Thursday at S$0.50, down S$0.01 or 2 per cent, before the announcement.

Ascendas India Trust: The trust on Thursday posted a DPU of 4.19 Singapore cents for the second half of the fiscal year ended December 2020, 5 per cent lower than the 4.40 Singapore cents paid in the year-ago period. This lifted the trust's FY 2020 DPU to 8.83 Singapore cents, 8 per cent higher than the DPU of 8.15 Singapore cents in 2019. Units in Ascendas India Trust ended Thursday at S$1.55, down 3.7 per cent or S$0.06, before the announcement.

MMP Resources: The mainboard-listed construction company said its proposed acquisition of GCM - which would have resulted in a reverse takeover - will not be going ahead. The company will now take necessary steps for a delisting. Trading in shares of MMP Resources were halted Thursday at 4.17pm and will resume trading Friday. Before the trading halt, its shares were changing hands at 0.6 Singapore cent.

International Press Softcom (IPS): The family-member owners of the printing and software package specialist have made a voluntary conditional offer for the rest of the shares they do not own, with the intention to delist the company. The offer price is 4.5 Singapore cents a share. Shares of Catalist-listed IPS last traded at S$0.04 on Wednesday.