Stocks to watch: Parkway Life Reit, Starhill Global Reit, CRCT, FHT, Japfa, Lian Beng, Tee Land

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

Parkway Life Reit: Parkway Life Reit (real estate investment trust) on Wednesday posted a 2.6 per cent increase in its distribution per unit (DPU) to 3.27 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended June 30. Gross revenue for the healthcare Reit grew 2.9 per cent to S$28.9 million for Q2, while net property income (NPI) was up 2.3 per cent to S$26.8 million. This was mainly due to higher rent from Singapore properties, revenue contribution from a Japan property acquisition in the first quarter of last year, and the appreciation of the yen. Units of Parkway Life Reit closed flat at S$3.06 on Tuesday.

Starhill Global Reit: Starhill Global Reit will pay out a DPU of 1.1 Singapore cents, up by 0.9 per cent on the year before, for the fourth quarter to June 30, the manager has said. NPI for the period was down by 0.4 per cent, to S$39.9 million, on higher operating expenses and lower contributions from the Singapore retail portfolio, as well as a weakening Australian dollar and ringgit. Gross revenue ticked up by 0.4 per cent, to S$51.9 million, according to results released on Tuesday, while distributable income decreased by 1.7 per cent, to S$24.9 million. The Reit's latest DPU has taken its full-year pay-out to 4.48 Singapore cents, against 4.55 Singapore cents for the same period the previous year. The counter added half a Singapore cent, or 0.63 per cent, to S$0.80, before the results.

CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT): CRCT on Wednesday posted a DPU of 2.54 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended June 30, down 3.8 per cent from the year-ago DPU, after capital distribution, of 2.64 cents. NPI grew 11.5 per cent to 201.1 million yuan for the quarter, up from 180.4 million yuan a year ago. Income available for distribution to unitholders rose 5 per cent to S$25.4 million. Meanwhile, gross revenue for the China shopping mall real estate investment trust grew 1.9 per cent from a year ago to 274.9 million yuan (S$54.7 million) for Q2 this year, boosted by stronger rental growth from the core multi-tenanted malls. Units of CRCT were down one Singapore cent or 0.621 per cent to S$1.60 on Tuesday.

Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT): International hotel investor FHT has cut its distribution per stapled security (DPS) for the third quarter to 1.0086 Singapore cents, as earnings declined. DPS is down by 10.2 per cent year on year for the three months to June 30, the manager said in results released on Tuesday night, while blaming weakness in its Australian assets. NPI fell by 11 per cent to S$25.4 million, as gross revenue lost 8.4 per cent to S$35 million. Distributable income was down by 9 per cent to S$19.2 million. Net property income for the nine months was down by 6.9 per cent, to S$81.6 million, on a 5.9 per cent slide in gross revenue, to S$110.3 million. DPS came in 8.4 per cent lower, at 3.2474 Singapore cents. The counter lost S$0.01, or 1.4 per cent, to S$0.705, before the results were released.

Japfa: Mainboard-listed agri-food producer Japfa's second-quarter net profit plummeted, on a large fair-value loss for "biological assets", compared with the previous year's gain. Earnings were down by 83.1 per cent to US$4.99 million for the three months to June 30, down from US$29.6 million the year before, according to unaudited results released on Tuesday. The drop, which was not helped by a higher cost of sales, came even as revenue improved by 8.2 per cent to US$975 million, on more animal feed sales and a stronger dairy segment.

Earnings per share for the three months slipped to 0.27 US cent, compared with 1.63 US cents previously, while net asset value was US$0.42 a share, unchanged from Dec 31, 2018. Net profit for the half-year fell by 72.3 per cent to US$12.8 million, while revenue grew by 8 per cent to US$1.89 billion. No dividend was recommended, unchanged from the year before. Japfa lost US$0.01, or 1.91 per cent, to US$0.515, before the results were released.

Lian Beng Group: Mainboard-listed contractor Lian Beng Group saw fourth-quarter net profit plunge amid the absence of a one-off gain, but Catalist-listed spin-off SLB Development managed to post higher earnings for the same period, according to unaudited financial results out for both companies on Tuesday.

Lian Beng's earnings were down by 74.3 per cent year on year for the three months to May 31, to S$14.5 million, from S$56.7 million before, as construction costs rose on more activity and out-paced the revenue fall. Revenue fell by 11.6 per cent to S$132.9 million. Earnings per share (EPS) for the three months slipped to 2.91 Singapore cents, down from 11.34 Singapore cents previously.

Meanwhile, 74.1 per cent-owned development subsidiary SLB notched a 79 per cent drop in revenue to S$10.4 million. But net profit grew by 29.9 per cent, to S$1.48 million, as S$597,000 in post-tax losses was attributed to non-controlling interests. EPS was flat at 0.16 Singapore cent.

Lian Beng's board recommended a final dividend of 1.25 Singapore cents a share for the quarter - taking the full-year pay-out to 2.25 Singapore cents a share, unchanged from the year before - while SLB will pay 0.1 Singapore cent a share, against no dividend in the year prior. Lian Beng closed up by half a Singapore cent, or 0.97 per cent, at S$0.52, and SLB ended flat at S$0.145, before the results for both companies were released.

Tee Land: Mainboard-listed developer Tee Land sank deeper into the red for its latest full year, no thanks to selling The Peak @ Cairnhill I units at a loss during the period. Tee Land notched a widening net loss of S$23.8 million for the 12 months to May 31, nearly three times worse than the S$8.69 million the year before, according to results released on Tuesday. The deeper losses came amid a 7.9 per cent fall in turnover, to S$8.7 million, on lower revenue from Third Avenue in Malaysia and the absence of contributions from two other projects.

The group made a loss per share (LPS) of 5.33 Singapore cents for the full year, widening from a LPS of 1.95 Singapore cents the previous year, while net asset value was 27.1 Singapore cents a share, down from 32.8 Singapore cents before. No dividend was recommended for the period - compared with a full-year pay-out of 0.4 Singapore cent a share for the year prior - which the board said was "on grounds of prudence". The counter closed flat at S$0.167 on Tuesday, before the results were released.