Stocks to watch: Valuetronics, Metro, The Hour Glass, HPH Trust, Technics Oil & Gas, Genting HK

VALUETRONICS: Valuetronics on Wednesday posted a 35.8 per cent drop in net profit to HK$25.2 million (S$4.6 million) for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2015.

This is the third quarter that it has posted year-on-year declining earnings. Revenue fell 27.1 per cent to HK$434.5 million, due to a sharp fall in revenue in its consumer electronics segment.

Valuetronics is an electronic manufacturing service provider. In the latest quarter, its CE segment was hit badly by falling sales of LED lighting products, down 61 per cent, as mass-market LED light bulbs have reached their end-of-life cycle, it said.

Metro Holdings: Metro Holdings on Wednesday morning requested for a trading halt before the stock market opened, "pending announcement".

Its group managing director Jopie Ong, who was in his 70s, died on Tuesday, after helming the local retailer for over four decades. The circumstances of his death were unclear as of press time; Metro told The Business Times that more details would be announced on Wednesday.

Mr Ong - the son of Metro founder Ong Tjoe Kim - joined Metro in 1964, and had been its group managing director since 1973. In the early days, he was responsible for growing Metro's retail division, taking the homegrown firm beyond its beginnings as a textile store.

The Hour Glass: Watch retailer The Hour Glass on Tuesday reported a marginal 2 per cent slip in net profit to S$14.51 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2015.

Revenue for Q3 FY2016 was flat at S$186.37 million, while other operating expenses surged 74 per cent to S$4.4 million.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust: HPH Trust on Tuesday posted a HK$533.3 million (S$97.8 million) profit attributable to unitholders for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, a reversal from a loss of HK$18.61 billion for the corresponding period a year ago, due mainly to the absence of FY14's goodwill impairment impact.

Revenue and other income was HK$3.03 billion, down 4.9 per cent from HK$3.19 billion a year ago.

Earnings per unit (EPU) attributable to unitholders of HPH Trust were 6.12 HK cents compared to a loss per unit of 213.64 HK cents.

Technics Oil & Gas: Technics Oil & Gas has issued a profit warning for the three months ended Dec 31, 2015. It expects to report an operating net loss for Q1 FY2016, the group said on Tuesday in a Singapore Exchange announcement.

Genting Hong Kong: Genting Hong Kong issued a profit alert on Tuesday, saying that its net profit for the year ended Dec 31, 2015 is expected to be at least US$2 billion - a massive increase from the net profit (excluding the share of results of travellers) of US$331.7 million for the corresponding period a year earlier. Part of the increase is due to a total gain of US$658.6 million arising from disposals of certain stakes in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH).

Another contributing reason is the one-off accounting gain of US$1.57 billion recognised upon completion of a secondary offering of NCLH's ordinary shares. The group has ceased to account for its share of results and net assets of NCLH as an "associate" but as an "available-for-sale investment" on May 26, 2015.