Stocks to watch: SGX, Tan Chong, Spindex, Keppel DC Reit, Lum Chang

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

Singapore Exchange S68 (SGX): The bourse is reported to be planning its maiden US dollar bond offering, which would make it the latest entrant in a rush by Asian companies to lock in cheap borrowing costs. Citing an unnamed source, Bloomberg said on Tuesday that SGX hired banks for a potential US currency note and held investor calls on the same day. SGX shares closed S$0.05 or 0.5 per cent lower at S$10.24 on Tuesday, after the article was first published.

Tan Chong International T15: On Tuesday, the auto dealer reported earnings of HK$78.6 million (S$13.7 million) for the first half of 2021, swinging back into profit following a HK$46.1 million net loss in the same period last year. Its directors have declared an interim dividend of 1.5 Hong Kong cents per share for H1 2021. Tan Chong shares closed flat at HK$2.05 on Tuesday, before the results were released.

Spindex Industries 564: The precision engineering group on Tuesday reported a 75 per cent jump in net profit to S$21.3 million for the full year ended June 30. According to the company, this was due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic as remote work has contributed to new demand for its products, while pandemic-related disruptions to the global supply chain have resulted in some forward stocking of components. Prior to the announcement, Spindex shares closed flat at S$1.20.

Keppel DC Reit AJBU: Its manager has used S$148.3 million of the gross proceeds of S$204.3 million it raised from a private placement announced earlier this month. In an exchange filing on Tuesday, the manager said it used some S$64.6 million to partially fund its acquisition of a data centre in Guangdong, China. Some S$81.7 million was used to repay debt previously drawn down for future acquisitions. Units of Keppel DC Reit closed flat at S$2.54 on Tuesday, before the announcement.

Lum Chang Holdings L19: The construction group on Tuesday reported a net profit of S$8.1 million for the full year ended June 30, recovering from its S$6.1 million loss in the preceding year. This brings Lum Chang's earnings per share to 0.79 Singapore cent, as opposed to a loss per share of 0.56 cent in the previous year. Shares of Lum Chang ended Tuesday unchanged at 41.5 Singapore cents, before the announcement.