Independent director Wey Kim Long acquired 100,000 shares in Low Keng Huat (Singapore) at 35.5 cents apiece on Sept 22, raising his stake from 0.041% to 0.054%.

 

Established in 1969, Low Keng Huat has grown from a builder into a property developer in Singapore and Malaysia. It also owns and operates the Duxton brand of hotels in Perth and Ho Chi Minh City.

 

For 2Q ended July 31, the company reported a 133% increase in revenue to $160.9 million and a 264% surge in earnings to $20 million on higher percentage of completion of ongoing projects including one-north Residences, South Bank and Hard Rock Hotel at Sentosa. As at July 31, the company’s order book stood at $830 million.

 

Elsewhere, US-based Kabouter Management bought 154,000 shares of Thomson Medical Centre at 57.99 cents apiece on Sept 18, increasing its stake from 4.974% to 5.027%. The foreign fund is also a substantial shareholder of Techcomp and Health Management International.

 

For 3Q ended May 31, the healthcare provider for women and children reported a 10.8% increase in revenue to $17.4 million and a 17% increase in earnings to $3.4 million on higher patient load and deliveries. In the quarter, 116 babies were delivered, up 5.5% from last year. The results also received a boost from the Thomson Women Cancer Centre at Novena Medical Centre, which opened in February.

 

Looking ahead, the construction of the company’s consultancy project in Vietnam — the Hanh Phuc International Women and Children hospital — is expected to be completed by year-end. The company is also finalising the business plan for a second hospital project in Vietnam.

 

US-based Capital Group of Companies sold 2.24 million shares of OSIM International from Feb 23 to Sept 16, reducing its stake from 5.7351% to 4.3535%. Shares are up 603% year-to-date, after the massage- chair maker managed a turnaround after writing down its 55% stake in Brookstone to zero last year. In 2Q2009, OSIM reported flat revenue of $117 million and earnings of $5 million versus losses of $6 million previously. As OSIM focuses on improving profitability, the number of stores was rationalised from 1,049 in March to 1,037 in June.

 

With the Chinese consumer market still vibrant, CEO and founder Ron Sim, who holds a 60% stake in the company, is looking to expand the current network of 200 OSIM and 18 RichLife stores in China. Over the next three to five years, he plans to open 50 to 80 more OSIM outlets and another 60 to 100 nutritional supplement outlets under the RichLife brand in China annually.

 

In another development, nonexecutive director Tong Chi Ho sold 400,000 shares of JES International on Sept 17, reducing his stake from 1.53% to 1.5%. Earlier, he had sold 774,000 shares from Sept 1 to 10.

 

JES, which makes bulk carriers, crude oil tankers and containerships, was hit by the slowdown in the shipping sector. In 2Q2009, it reported a 6% increase in revenue to RMB464.7 million ($96 million) and a 67.7% fall in earnings to RMB7 million on higher costs. However, this was an improvement from 1Q2009, when the Chinese shipbuilder reported losses of RMB52.6 million. In June, JES said a customer from Croatia cancelled two of its four original orders for bulk carriers, and another from Greece cancelled an order for a bulk carrier.

 

In a report dated Sept 21, Daiwa Securities notes that confidence in the Baltic Dry Index turned weaker recently after it closed below 2,400 points for the first time since hitting a peak of more than 4,000 in June. The brokerage maintains a “negative” rating on the dry-bulk shipping sector, owing to increasing signs of vessel oversupply having a negative impact on the BDI.

 

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