Stocks to watch: Olam, DBS, Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust, iFast

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

Olam International, DBS: The agri-food giant on Monday said it has obtained a S$200 million Singapore Overnight Rate Average-pegged club loan from DBS and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Singapore Branch. As at 9.17am on Monday, Olam shares were trading at S$1.27, up S$0.01 or 0.8 per cent, while DBS shares were down S$0.06 or 0.3 per cent at S$19.95.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT): The real estate investment trust is acquiring a 50 per cent stake in an office building in Seoul's Gangnam business district for 228.9 billion Korean won (S$267.6 million). MNACT units closed flat at 89.5 Singapore cents on Friday, before this announcement.

iFast Corp: The mainboard-listed financial services firm expects to launch a private fund manager business in China by early next year, the board said on Friday. iFast shares added S$0.07 or 3.1 per cent to S$2.35 on Friday, before the latest announcement.

SIIC Environment Holdings: The mainboard-listed firm has inked new contracts involving wastewater-treatment plants in the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Heilongjiang. SIIC Environment shares closed down 0.2 Singapore cent or 1.1 per cent to 18.8 cents on Friday, before the news.

iX Biopharma: The pharmaceutical company on Monday said it has obtained a licence in Australia to bring its product testing in-house, improving speed-to market and potentially saving on testing costs. Shares of Catalist-listed iX Biopharma closed flat at S$0.24 on Friday.

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Lian Beng: Shareholders have raised questions over the acquisition of Thye Hong Centre by Lian Beng's subsidiary SLB Development. Among other things, shareholders questioned whether the move was an indicator that the group will be able to resume distributing dividends. Shares of Lian Beng fell 1.3 per cent or half a Singapore cent to 37 cents on Friday.

Geo Energy Resources: The mainboard-listed coal miner's bid to buy a company in Indonesia has been embroiled in lawsuits involving claims of 500 billion rupiah (S$46.8 million). The company's shares shed 0.2 Singapore cent or 1.9 per cent to 10.2 cents on Friday, before the news.

Southern Alliance Mining (SAM): Higher taxes took a toll on the full-year showing of SAM, in the iron-ore producer's first set of results since its initial public offering in June this year. Net profit for the Malaysia-based firm fell 30 per cent to RM62.1 million (S$20.5 million) for the full year ended July 31, from RM88.2 million a year ago. SAM shares ended at S$0.30 on Friday, up S$0.02 or 7.1 per cent, following its results announcement.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel): The telco's unit NCS is eyeing regional growth, NCS chief executive Ng Kuo Pin told The Business Times. The ICT service provider is also rebranding itself as a company offering services in the commercial space. As at 9.23am on Monday, Singtel shares fell S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent to trade at S$2.13.

Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT): The manager of mainboard-listed FCT has justified the proposed divestment of Bedok Point in response to shareholders' queries, ahead of the trust's extraordinary general meeting to be held at 10am on Monday. The proposed sale of Bedok Point at S$108 million had raised questions from shareholders, given that it was acquired at S$129 million.

Last week, FCT's manager also provided updates on its portfolio tenants' sales, shopper traffic and asset valuation. FCT requested a trading halt on Monday morning before the market opened, pending announcements. Units of FCT closed at S$2.52 on Friday, down S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent.