Stocks to watch: OCBC, Keppel, Singtel, Thomson Medical, Yeo Hiap Seng

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

OCBC, Keppel Corporation: A prominent consortium comprising OCBC, Validus Capital, Keppel Corporation and Vertex Ventures has decided against applying for a digital wholesale banking licence, BT understands. The late breakdown in talks comes amid Keppel's ongoing strategic review of its core operations, with Temasek Holdings due to take control of the conglomerate via a partial offer, BT understands. OCBC shares closed at S$10.93 on Monday, down three Singapore cents, while shares in Keppel Corp closed flat at S$6.73.

Singtel: Grab Holdings and Singtel on Monday made public their joint application for a digital full bank licence. Grab would hold a 60 per cent stake in the proposed consortium, with the telco giant holding 40 per cent. Singtel shares closed at S$3.38 on Monday, up one Singapore cent.

Thomson Medical Group: Thomson Medical has named public health specialist Wong Chiang Yin, a former chief executive of Cordlife Group, as its new chief executive and executive director from Feb 1, 2020. Meanwhile, Roy Quek, who quit as Thomson Medical's chief executive in September, will resign from the board as a non-executive director from Tuesday. Shares of Thomson Medical closed at 6.6 Singapore cents on Monday, down 1.49 per cent, or 0.1 cent.

Yeo Hiap Seng (YHS): Melvin Teo is resigning as chief executive of beverage player YHS from March 2020, and will be replaced by Samuel Koh, a vice-president at the Coca-Cola Company. In a Monday announcement after market close, YHS said that Mr Teo is leaving to pursue other interests. Shares of YHS closed at S$0.945 on Monday, down 1.05 per cent, or one Singapore cent.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT): The manager of LMIRT has inked conditional agreements to divest two properties, Pejaten Village and Binjai Supermall, for 1.28 trillion rupiah (S$124.3 million), it announced on Monday after trading hours. The buyer is NWP Retail, a joint venture between Warburg Pincus and City Retail Developments. Units of LMIRT closed flat at S$0.225 on Monday.

Moya Asia: Moya Indonesia Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Catalist-listed Moya Asia, has inked a conditional agreement to fully acquire Obor Group, which is involved in water treatment in Indonesia, for S$24.7 million in cash. Shares of Moya closed at 7.6 Singapore cents on Monday, up 2.7 per cent, or 0.2 cent.

Mermaid Maritime: An associate of Mermaid Maritime, Asia Offshore Drilling, has secured contract extensions for two of its jack-up drilling rigs to serve a client in the Middle East, the oil and gas play announced on Tuesday. The total contract value is expected to be about US$199 million. The counter jumped 31.3 per cent, or 3.6 Singapore cents to finish at 15.1 cents on Monday.

Thakral Corporation: Thakral's joint venture has increased its share capital by some 1.54 billion yen (S$19.1 million) to 1.6 billion yen to finance its stake purchase in an office building in Japan. All proceeds from the share issue were used for the investment, Thakral Corp said on Monday night. Thakral Corp shares rose 0.5 Singapore cent or 1 per cent to close at 50 cents on Monday, before this announcement.

AEI Corporation: The company has entered into a put and call option agreement to sell its 12 Penjuru Lane property for S$19 million to ACW Holdings. Sale proceeds will go towards strengthening the group's financial position and facilitate funding of its overall plans to diversify into new businesses, AEI said on Monday after trading hours. The counter last closed on Dec 27 at 85 Singapore cents, down 1.5 cent or 1.7 per cent.