Stocks to watch: SIA, Noble, SembMarine, Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land

THE following listed companies made material announcements before the Singapore market opened on Friday.

Singapore Airlines (SIA): Demand for the carrier's premium seats is holding up but could take a hit in the future given headwinds in the global economy. "With the kind of outlook we're seeing in the world economy, we do expect that will affect business demand at some point. That's something we'll watch for," said SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong, speaking to media on Thursday on the sidelines of the arrival ceremony for its first Airbus A350-900.

Noble Group: The commodity trader will soon be dropped from the Straits Times Index (STI), while CapitaLand Commercial Trust will be added, said FTSE Russell on Thursday. The sole change to the STI constituents follows the March quarterly review.

Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine): US fund manager Franklin Resources has become a substantial shareholder of the Singapore yard group after its two funds - Templeton International and Templeton Worldwide - bought S$1.82 million in additional shares in the company on March 2.

Jardine Matheson Holdings: The group reported a 5 per cent increase in net profit to US$1.8 billion for the year ended Dec 31, 2015. Revenue, together with revenue of associates and joint ventures, was up 4 per cent to US$65.27 billion, with Dairy Farm and Astra contributing the bulk of this at US$17.91 billion and US$25.25 billion respectively.

Hongkong Land Holding: The firm's profit attributable to shareholders for the year 2015 was US$2.01 billion, up 52 per cent compared to US$1.33 billion a year ago. This takes into account the net non-trading gains of US$1.1 billion recorded principally on property valuations of the group's investment properties; in 2014, net valuation gains came in at US$397 million.