SINGAPORE (Feb 2): The following stocks may be in focus today:
SIA Engineering Group posted earnings of $49.4 million for 3Q, an increase of 6.7% from a year ago. This was mainly due to an increase in share of profits, boosted by one-time gains, from its associated and joint venture companies. For the three months to December, revenue grew 3.7% to $257.2 million. Lifted by higher fleet management and line maintenance revenue.
Healthcare company Cordlife Group has invested a further $8.4 million in its strategic alliance with CellResearch Corporation. The investment will be funded entirely by internal resources.
Catalist-listed Singapore eDevelopment (SeD) plans to place $7 million worth of new shares to CEO and largest shareholder Chan Heng Fai, to improve its balance sheet and working capital.
Civmec has completed the acquisition of Australia’s largest privately owned engineering and shipbuilding company, Forgacs. Following Civmec’s due diligence and negotiations, it has decided that the acquisition will include the Forgacs name, its shipyard facilities and assets located at Tomago, New South Wales.
GRP, a Shanghai-based maker of uPVC pipes for the marine and industrial sector, sank into the red with 1H net loss of $62,000, compared with earnings of $0.9 million a year ago. Revenue shrank 25.1% to $9.8 million for the period amid weaker demand and falling oil prices. The depreciating Malaysian Ringgit against Singapore Dollar also added to its woes.
Zhongxin Fruit and Juice’s 1H earnings rose more than tripled to RMB4.65 million ($1 million) due to higher share of profit from joint ventures. Revenue for the six months to December decreased 13% to RMB58 million as production halted at the Xuzhou Zhongxin plant.
China Star Food Group, the manufacturer of sweet potato snacks which was listed through the reverse takeover of Brooke Asia, posted a 43.3% fall in 3Q earnings to RMB16.9 million ($3.7 million) a year ago. The decline was mainly due to higher R&D expenses for new products to aid future sales and higher marketing and distribution costs as more advertising and sales promotional events were held in 3Q. Revenue for the three months to Dec increased 18% to RMB131.4 million compared to RMB111.5 million a year ago, lifted by higher sales of crisps, candies and baked goods although this was partially offset by a decrease in sales of preserved foods, pastries and roasted sweet potato nuts mainly due to new products launches and revamped product packaging on certain product categories.
CEI Contract Manufacturing, which makes a wide range of products including medical and semi-conductor equipment, posted earnings of $10.8 million for FY2015, a 110.5% increase from the previous year. Revenue rose 9.1% to $132.3 million.
CH Offshore recorded a 80.8% fall in 2Q earnings to US$1.05 million ($1.5 million) from a year ago. The fall came on the back of a 36.5% decrease in revenue to US$5.57 million due to lower vessel utilisation and charter rate reduction.
Vard Holdings, the shipbuilder of offshore specialised vessels, says subsidiary Vard Marine has won a four million euros ($6.2 million) contract to design an Antarctic icebreaking vessel for the Chilean Navy. The contract was awarded by ASMAR Shipbuilding & Ship Repair Company. Under the contract, Vard Marine will develop the basic design of the ship that will be constructed at the ASMAR shipyard in Talcahuano, Chile.
ST Engineering says its aerospace arm ST Aerospace has completed its investment of the additional 20% equity interest in Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW). Following the completion, EFW becomes a subsidiary of ST Aerospace, with the latter owning 55% of the shareholding and Airbus Defence and Space holding the remaining 45%.
Markets
Strong gains in Facebook and Alphabet helped Wall Street cut losses and stage a late-day rally, with major indexes closing near the unchanged mark. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.12 points, or 0.1%, to 16,449.18, the S&P 500 had lost 0.86 points, or 0.04%, to 1,939.38 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 6.41 points, or 0.14%, to 4,620.37.
Singapore equities closed weaker on Monday, as other Asian markets put in a mixed showing. Japanese equities extended their advance, after the Bank of Japan last week introduced a negative interest rate for some deposits. Elsewhere, Chinese bourses slumped after its purchasing managers’ index data trailed estimates. The Straits Times Index (STI) ended the day 1.02% lower at 2,602.41, after trading between 2,597.06 and 2,644.68. Excluding warrants, decliners outnumbered gainers 203 to 183.