Stocks to Watch: Noble, Asian Pay TV Trust, SPH, Qian Hu, Sabana Reit

NOBLE Group on Thursday said it has signed a definitive agreement with New York-listed Alcoa to buy a 100 per cent stake in a Jamalco bauxite mining and alumina (aluminum oxide) refining joint venture for US$140 million.

This transaction will provide Noble an additional 778,800 metric tonnes of annual alumina off-take while the Jamaican government retains its 45 per cent ownership of the joint venture, the commodities trader said.

Robert Thorpe, 39, has resigned from his position as CEO and executive director of the manager of Macquarie Asian Pay Television Trust (MAMPL) to relocate to Australia.

With effect from Oct 15, Mr Thorpe has been succeeded by Cheong Wei Yue, who joined the Macquarie Group in 2006 and has managed several infrastructure assets owned by Macquarie-managed funds across Asia, including Taiwan Broadband Communications.

Singapore Press Holdings on Wednesday reported a 6.2 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit for the year ended Aug 31 to S$404.3 million, as its newspaper and magazine business took a hit from lower advertising and circulation revenue.

Its property and other businesses, however, performed well - helping to stem the slide in earnings.

Its operating revenue was down 2 per cent at S$1.22 billion in FY2014, due mainly to its newspaper and magazine division reporting a lower operating revenue.

Qian Hu Corporation on Wednesday posted a 10.2 per cent fall in net profit for the third quarter to S$79,000 as revenue dipped and cost of sales inched up.

Revenue for the quarter slipped 0.2 per cent to S$20.46 million, due mainly to the fall in sales for both ornamental fish, and plastic bags used in the packing of fish.

Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Reit on Wednesday said its distribution per unit fell 23.9 per cent to 1.81 Singapore cents for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014, from 2.38 Singapore cents a year ago.

For the same quarter, its net property income slipped 9.8 per cent to S$18 million from S$19.9 million.