Stocks to watch: UOB, CMT, CCT, FHT, Ascendas Reit, CDL, GuocoLand, First Sponsor, SembMarine

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

United Overseas Bank: UOB has posted a net profit of S$1.04 billion in the third quarter, up 17 per cent from the same period a year earlier as net interest income rose 14 per cent to S$1.6 billion.

CapitaLand Mall Trust: CMT has closed a private placement of more than 134 million new units at an issue price of S$2.07 per unit, raising net proceeds of S$273.1 million. The issue price of S$2.07 per new unit represents a discount of 3.77 per cent to the volume weighted average price (VWAP) per unit for trades done on Thursday.   

CapitaLand Commercial Trust: CCT has posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.20 Singapore cents for the third quarter, up 8.9 per cent from the same period last year.

Frasers Hospitality Trust: FHT has posted a fourth fiscal quarter distribution per stapled security (DPS) of 1.2154 Singapore cents, down 4.8 per cent from the 1.2763 Singapore cents for the same period last year. 

Ascendas Reit: The Reit reported a 4.2 per cent fall in DPU to 3.887 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended Sept 30 from 4.059 cents last year.

ESR-Reit: ESR-Reit has posted a third-quarter DPU of 1.004 Singapore cents, up 4.1 per cent from the same period last year as net property income rose 15 per cent to S$22.5 million.

Cache Logistics Trust: Cache Logistics Trust has posted a DPU of 1.475 Singapore cents in the third quarter, down 4.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

City Developments: The property group has completed the purchase of a prime freehold Grade A office tower in London for £385 million (S$687 million) or £1,170 psf (S$2,088 psf).

GuocoLand: The developer saw a steep drop in its first-quarter earnings, as a fall in revenue was compounded by a lower share of profit from associates and joint ventures. Net profit plunged 85 per cent on the previous year to S$26.2 million for the three months to Sept 30.

GL: GL, formerly known as GuocoLeisure, posted a 7 per cent drop in net profit to US$16.2 million in the first quarter, on the back of lower turnover from the core hotel segment.

First Sponsor Group: First Sponsor Group has posted a net profit of S$25.65 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, up 15.8 per cent from the same period a year earlier despite a 17.5 per cent fall in revenue as gross profit margin increased, reflecting a change in the sales mix as the higher yielding property financing segment constituted about 54.5 per cent of the group's gross profit.

Sembcorp Marine: The rigbuilder sank into the red in the third quarter, in its second straight quarter of net losses, despite higher turnover from the sale of a rig. It turned in a net loss of S$29.8 million for the three months to Sept 30.