Stocks to watch: Singtel, Loyz Energy, ARA, Wing Tai, SingPost, Perennial

SINGTEL: Singtel's telco unit in Australia, Optus, on Friday said it has acquired new regional licences in the 1800 MHz spectrum band.

Specifically, it has obtained two 20 MHz in five regions, and two 25 MHz in seven regions for A$196 million (S$197 million).

The 1800 MHz acquisition means Optus is well-placed to expand its 4G network coverage to more places around Australia, it noted.

Loyz Energy: Loyz on Friday reported a net loss of US$631,000 for its second quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, compared to a net profit of US$177,000 a year ago.

The oil and gas, exploration and production company's revenue also plunged 58 per cent to US$2.4 million, mainly due to the sharp fall in oil price from an average of US$66.74 per barrel to US$34.66 per barrel over the period, it said.

It warned that oil prices will continue to be volatile and have a significant impact on the group's earnings. "Constant effort is being made to reduce our already low operating costs, which are around US$12 per barrel currently," it added.

ARA Asset Management: ARA on Thursday said net profit for the fourth quarter rose 41 per cent, mainly on higher management fees and finance income, as well as lower expenses.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31, 2015 stood at S$25.6 million, compared to S$18.2 million a year ago. This translated to earnings per share of 2.88 Singapore cents, compared to a restated 2.10 Singapore cents.

ARA's total revenue for the quarter rose 7 per cent to S$46.1 million, driven by stronger management fees and higher finance income.

Wing Tai: Wing Tai Holdings' net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 slumped 85 per cent year-on-year to S$1.08 million, dragged down by higher income tax expenses.

Revenue declined 5 per cent to S$120.61 million while earnings per share stood at 0.14 Singapore cent for Q2 - lower than the 0.93 Singapore cent recorded in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Singapore Post: After gorging on acquisitions over the past few years SingPost will now be taking a break to digest them, it indicated on Thursday in a results briefing.

Chief financial officer Mervyn Lim was speaking after the group posted bland net profit figures for the third quarter as its expenses climbed at a faster pace year on year than revenue.

SingPost posted a marginal 0.6 per cent rise in Q3 net profit to S$43.50 million from the previous year. This was despite revenue going up 32 per cent to S$316.18 million for the three months ended Dec 31, 2015, with higher contributions from its logistics segment and its retail and e-commerce segment.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings: Perennial has posted net profit of S$41.1 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, up 93 per cent from a year ago.

This was mainly due to slightly higher fair-value gains on investment properties, improved contribution from operating assets in Singapore and China and the absence of a negative one-off transaction of S$11.4 million from a year ago.

Revenue rose 90 per cent to S$28.4 million. This was because the latest quarter has a full three-month revenue contribution from the real-estate business; the year-ago quarter had revenue from only about two months, as the property business started on Oct 28, 2014.