Stocks to watch: Singtel, Global Invacom, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Suntec Reit

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

Singtel: Singtel has agreed to invest US$250 million in Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Airtel in which Singtel holds a 39.5 per cent effective stake. It is one of six investors including Warburg Pincus, Temasek Holdings and SoftBank Group International that have invested a total of US$1.25 billion in Airtel Africa through a primary equity issuance.

Global Invacom: The group has agreed to acquire the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Tactilis, a Malaysian firm which makes proprietary biometric system-on-card solutions. Tactilis is valued at US$200 million, it said, and Global Invacom will make an initial investment of US$2 million for 2 per cent of its share capital by subscribing for convertible notes. Global Invacom is also issuing up to S$20 million unsecured redeemable structured convertible notes to raise money for the acquisition. Trading in its shares resumes today, Oct 24.

Frasers Centrepoint Trust: The trust on Wednesday morning posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.862 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter, down 3.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Mapletree Industrial Trust: The trust said on Tuesday evening that its second-quarter DPU rose to 3.01 Singapore cents from three Singapore cents in the same period a year earlier, while income available for distribution grew 4.9 per cent to S$56.7 million.

Suntec Reit: The Reit has posted a third-quarter DPU of 2.491 Singapore cents, up 0.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

United Overseas Insurance: UOI's third-quarter net profit was boosted by non-underwriting income from investment gains, as core underwriting earnings tumbled on higher costs and lower gross premium.

Trek 2000 International: The group is expected to report losses for the three months and nine months to Sept 30 on lower sales revenue and a shrinking gross profit margin, it said in a profit warning on Tuesday.

OUE Lippo Healthcare: The group said it has raised gross proceeds of close to S$150 million from the issue of about 2.22 billion rights shares, which raises the group's total share capital to 4.44 billion shares. The rights shares will be listed on Thursday.