Stocks to watch: Manulife US Reit, TEE International, TEE Land, Lian Beng, GKE Corp

THE following companies saw new developments which may affect trading of their shares on Friday:

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Manulife US Reit): The Reit on Friday announced it has entered into agreements to acquire two properties in the US for US$387 million, and has established a US$1 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme aimed at increasing its financial flexibility by diversifying its sources of funding. The properties acquired are 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC and the Phipps Tower in Buckhead, Atlanta, Manulife US Reit said in filings with the Singapore Exchange.

TEE International, TEE Land: Engineering and real estate group TEE International saw net profit double to S$374,000 in its fiscal third quarter, while its listed property arm, TEE Land, said net profit swelled to S$1.2 million from S$66,000 over the same period. For the nine-month period, TEE International had a net loss of S$5.8 million, or 1.15 Singapore cents per share, while TEE Land saw a nine-month loss of S$5.5 million, or 1.24 Singapore cents per share. TEE Land is declaring an interim cash dividend of 0.25 cent per share.

Lian Beng Group: The construction firm on Thursday reported a 63 per cent rise in net profit for the fiscal third quarter from a year ago, reflecting stronger revenue. Net profit for the three months ended Feb 28, 2018 stood at S$4.68 million, up from S$2.87 million a year ago. Revenue rose 62.5 per cent to S$58.8 million.

GKE Corporation: The logistics firm announced on Thursday that its net loss for the third quarter ended Feb 28, 2018 had narrowed to S$758,000, from a net loss of S$930,000 in the same period a year ago. The group's performance took a hit on lower revenue contribution from TNS Ocean Lines (S), its wholly-owned port operations service provider, and higher operating expenses A "competitive and challenging business environment in the warehousing and logistics industry" added to its woes, GKE said.