Stocks to watch: UOB, Sembcorp, OUE Hospitality Trust, AGV

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

United Overseas Bank (UOB): UOB's first quarter net profit rose 21 per cent to S$978 million from the previous year, as total income grew 9 per cent to reach S$2.23 billion, led by strong growth in both net interest income and net fee and commission income. Earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to 2.28 Singapore cents from 1.92 cents a year ago. No dividends has been declared for the period.

Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp): Sembcorp on Thursday reported a 34.1 per cent fall in net profit to S$76.65 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, despite a 30 per cent rise in revenue to S$2.76 billion. The earnings drop was mainly due to the absence recorded in the year-ago period of a one-off gain for the disposal of Cosco Shipyard Group and profit from the sale of a 42.6-hectare land in Nanjing, China; as well as lower contributions from offshore platform projects, said Sembcorp.

OUE Hospitality Trust: OUE Hospitality Trust's distribution per stapled security (DPS) for Q1 2018 slipped to 1.26 Singapore cents, from 1.30 Singapore cents in the previous year. That came as income available for distribution in the quarter slid 2.3 per cent from the previous year to S$22.9 million. Its net property income grew 3.1 per cent from the previous year to S$28.3 million.

AGV Group: AGV Group has entered into a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a regional hot dip galvanising business while scrapping a previous agreement for a similar business in Myanmar. The company announced late Wednesday that it has entered into an MOU with Hyday (South Pacific) Investment to develop the hot dip galvanising market in South-east Asia and China. The agreement includes jointly establishing a hot dip galvanising facility in Myanmar.