Stocks to watch: OCBC, Keppel, China Everbright, Chip Eng Seng, First Reit

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

OCBC: The bank on Friday said Helen Wong, former chief executive of HSBC in Greater China, will be its new group chief executive officer from April 15. The 59-year-old will be the first woman to head a Singapore bank. Shares of OCBC closed S$0.41 or 4 per cent higher at S$10.73 before the announcement was made.

Keppel Corporation: The conglomerate on Friday said offshore vessel player Floatel has reached an agreement with lenders of its revolving credit facilities and bank vessel facility, which will deliver a full discharge of security over the assets owned by some of the Floatel group entities. Shares in Keppel ended trading S$0.10 or 1.8 per cent higher at S$5.63, before the announcement.

China Everbright Water: The company's indirect wholly-owned subsidiary has won a public bid for the purchase of a 65 per cent equity interest in water treatment firm Tianjin Binhai New Area Huantang Sewage Treatment, it said on Sunday. The consideration for the purchase is 666.3 million yuan (S$136.4 million). Shares in China Everbright ended trading flat at 22.5 Singapore cents on Friday.

Chip Eng Seng Corporation: The property developer expects to post a net loss for FY2020, sinking into the red from a net profit of S$32.6 million the year before, and widening from the S$25.7 million net loss it reported for H1. This is mainly due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its businesses, said Chip Eng Seng in a profit warning issued on Monday. The counter closed 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.1 per cent lower to 44 cents on Friday.

First Real Estate Investment Trust (First Reit): The Reit's board and management on Friday responded to unitholder concerns that "there are some lines being drawn among the family members", such that First Reit did not know that Lippo Karawaci (LK) was planning to negotiate the rents down. First Reit pointed out OUE/OUE Lippo Healthcare and LK have separate board and management teams, and that it continues to receive strong support from the sponsor group. First Reit closed 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.9 per cent lower at 25.5 cents, before the announcement.

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Lendlease Global Commercial Reit (Lendlease Global Reit): Its manager has announced a new S$1 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme. Lendlease Global Reit units closed flat at 77.5 Singapore cents on Friday, before this announcement.

Fortress Minerals: The Catalist-listed iron ore concentrates producer and exporter on Monday posted a net profit of US$4.3 million for the three months ended Nov 30, 2020, more than five times that of US$751,151 a year ago. Separately, it has proposed to acquire Malaysia's Monument Mengapur, which is principally engaged in the business of copper and other minerals exploration. Fortress Minerals shares ended flat at S$0.28 on Friday.

Renaissance United: The mainboard-listed utilities player on Friday said its third-quarter earnings, due to be released by March 17, will be impacted by a sharp increase in cost of sales due to the use of liquefied natural gas during winter gas shortages in China. The counter closed flat at 0.2 Singapore cent, before the announcement.