Stocks to watch: SIA, CDLHT, Ascendas Reit, Mapletree NAC Trust, Far East H-Trust, SembMarine

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

Singapore Airlines (SIA): Budget carrier Scoot is swopping some of its Airbus A320neos orders for newer A321neos, and will also lease more of the larger single-aisle planes, parent Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Monday. Sixteen A321neos will join Scoot's 49-strong fleet from end-2020 onwards, which Scoot said in a bourse filing "will enable Scoot to meet its double-digit growth plan" for the financial year to March 31, 2021. Six of the fresh 236-seater A321neos replace part of an initial order for 39 186-seater A320neos, while 10 others will be leased. SIA closed up by S$0.06, or 0.62 per cent, to S$9.68 on its cum-dividend date on Monday, before the announcement.

CDL Hospitality Trusts: CDLHT on Tuesday morning posted a 3.3 per cent fall in its total distribution per stapled security (DPS) to 2.07 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended June 30. Total distribution to stapled securityholders declined 2.6 per cent to S$25.1 million. This came amid lower contribution from Singapore and Maldives, mainly due to extensive room enhancement works at Orchard Hotel in Singapore and the closure of Raffles Maldives Meradhoo for renovation. Stapled securities of CDLHT closed flat at S$1.64 on Monday, before the results were released.

Ascendas Reit: While the Reit got a boost from newly acquired properties and a different accounting standard for property operating expenses for its first quarter, the business space and industrial landlord also faced an enlarged unit base. The latter factor led distribution per unit (DPU) to rise just marginally to 4.005 Singapore cents from 4.002 Singapore cents year on year, though Q1 total amount available for distribution grew 6.3 per cent to S$124.7 million. Ascendas Reit units ended up S$0.02 or 0.7 per cent at S$3.05 on Monday.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust: The trust's manager has bumped up the trust's first-quarter distribution per unit to 1.95 Singapore cents, or 3.7 per cent higher than the year prior. Net property income was up by 10.7 per cent to S$85 million for the three months to June 30, according to unaudited results out on Monday. Distributable income was higher by 9.3 per cent, at S$62 million. The counter shed S$0.03, or 2.13 per cent, to S$1.38, before the results were released.

Far East Hospitality Trust: Far East H-Trust on Tuesday morning posted a 9.9 per cent drop in distribution per stapled security (DPS) to 0.91 Singapore cent for its second quarter ended June 30, down from 1.01 cents a year ago. This came on the back of a 7.4 per cent decline in income available for distribution to S$17.6 million for the quarter from S$19 million for the previous year, as well as an enlarged base. There were some 1.92 million stapled securities in issue at the end of the quarter, up from 1.87 million stapled securities a year ago. The counter for Far East H-Trust closed up 0.5 Singapore cent to 69.5 cents on Monday, before the results were released.

Sembcorp Marine: The Singapore rig builder on Tuesday posted a narrower second-quarter net loss of S$8.5 million, compared with S$55.6 million a year ago. This was mainly due to accelerated depreciation of S$11 million booked for the second quarter, along with S$6 million tax credit booked for the same period, the rig builder said in a regulatory update. For the three months ended June 30, the group's loss per share stood at 0.41 Singapore cent, compared with 2.66 cents a year ago. There was no dividend declared for the quarter. The counter for SembMarine closed flat at S$1.43 on Monday, before results were released.

Sheng Siong: Supermarket group Sheng Siong posted a 7.4 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to S$18.42 million for the second quarter ended June 30. Revenue was up 11.8 per cent to S$238.16 million after it opened 13 new stores, while earnings per share for the quarter clocked 1.23 Singapore cents, rising from 1.14 cents a year ago. The group declared an interim dividend of 1.75 cents per share, payable on Aug 27. This is up from the dividend of 1.65 cents a year ago. The counter closed at S$1.11 on Monday, up one Singapore cent.

ASL Marine: The mainboard-listed offshore and marine group said it will dispose of an inactive, loss-making indirect subsidiary in China, which was once involved in shipbuilding, to raise working capital. It inked a deal on Monday to sell Jiangmen Hongda Shipyard, which is owned by a 60 per cent unit, to Chinese concrete piles dealer Guangdong Sanhe Pile for 35 million yuan (S$6.96 million) in cash. Jiangmen Hongda Shipyard has not done any business since 2017, amid a global industry slump, and retains only land and buildings as assets, ASL noted in its announcement. ASL Marine added 0.3 Singapore cent, or 6.52 per cent, to 4.9 Singapore cents, before the news.