Friday, May 15, 2015

Hot stock: Genting Singapore shares down 6.9% in morning trade

SHARES of Genting Singapore traded down 6.9 per cent or seven Singapore cents to S$0.945 as at 10.55am on Friday, topping the list of actively traded counters for the morning.
On Thursday, the company reported first-quarter net profit that was 73 per cent lower at S$62.7 million, on the back of lower revenue.

Including S$29 million apportioned to holders of perpetual securities, net profit was 64 per cent lower at S$91.7 million.
"The Asian gaming industry is adjusting to a new norm. The premium gaming market continued to be weak," Genting Singapore had said in a statement.

Stocks to watch: Olam, SIA, Genting Singapore, Hyflux, Raffles Education

AGRIBUSINESS Olam International on Friday posted a net profit of S$31.26 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015, down a hefty 92.1 per cent from S$396.13 million in the year-ago period.

The commodity group said net earnings plunged on the back of a net exceptional loss of S$97.2 million in Q1, mainly from the buyback of bonds, while net earnings in the year-ago period had included an exceptional gain of S$293.9 million.
Revenue for the quarter was down 10.7 per cent at S$4.32 billion, from S$4.84 billion in the year-ago period, as sales volume fell 33.2 per cent to S$2.68 billion from S$4.01 billion in the year-ago period, as the company reduced volumes or exited from lower-margin businesses, and instead focused on growing its prioritised platforms.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Thursday reported a net profit of S$39.6 million for the fourth quarter of FY14/15, up nearly 47 per cent year on year.

Regarding Trading and investment

singapore stock picksSINGAPORE'S stock market opened higher on Friday with the Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 6.63 points or 0.19 per cent to 3,462.41 as at 9.01am, following gains in US and European markets on Thursday, as Wall Street shook off three days of losses and with European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi backing ECB's quantitative easing stimulus programme.

The most active stocks on Singapore Exchange on Friday are Great Eastern, UOB and Venture Corporation. As at 9.01am, 48.6 million shares valued at S$63.5 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 86 to 41.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Stocks to watch: Vard Holdings, Ezion, Q&M, SingPost, Rotary Engineering

SHIPBUILDER Vard Holdings on Wednesday announced that its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, plunged 89.7 per cent to eight million Norwegian kroner (S$1.43 million), compared to 78 million kroner in the year-ago period, mainly as a result of net foreign-exchange losses and higher interest expenses. Revenues for the quarter was up 14.6 per cent at 3.06 billion kroner, versus 2.67 billion kroner in the corresponding period last year, due to higher activity at the yards with subcontractors. Looking ahead, the group expects new order prospects to continue to be weak in the near and medium term.

Ezion Holdings on Wednesday announced its net profit for the first quarter ended March slipped 9.4 per cent to US$41,010, from US$45,245. Revenue fell 4.6 per cent to US$90.12 million due mainly to the absence of contribution from the marine and offshore logistic support services division as the projects in Queensland, Australia did not go into additional trains as originally planned.

Q&M Dental Group on Tuesday announced plans to acquire eight dental clinics in Singapore for a total of S$20.30 million to be paid in cash and shares. Towards this end, the firm has signed three separate points of agreements which also include the vendors providing guarantees and profit targets amounting to some S$16.10 million, said the firm in an announcement.

Singapore Post (SingPost) on Tuesday posted a 51.6 per cent fall in net profit from S$79.6 million a year ago to S$38.5 million for its fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015. The decrease was due to SingPost changing in the quarter its accounting policy for investment properties from the cost model to the fair value model to improve transparency. Revenue rose 28.7 per cent from S$193.3 million to S$248.1 million, boosted by SingPost's e-commerce and logistics businesses as well as contributions from new acquisitions.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Hot stocks: Pacific Andes, China Fishery among actively traded stocks

PACIFIC Andes Resources Development and its subsidiary, China Fishery Group, are among the most actively traded stocks on Singapore Exchange on Tuesday.
The two stocks saw more than 75 million shares traded altogether.
At 03:47pm, Pacific Andes, a distributor of seafood, was trading around S$0.068 a share, up 0.3 cent or 4.6 per cent. More than 47 million shares changed hands, making it the most actively traded stock on the exchange.

sgx stocks today
China Fishery, an industrial fishing group, was trading around S$0.205 a share, up 0.7 cent, or 3.5 per cent, on more than 28 million shares. It is the third most actively traded stock.

On Monday, China Fishery said its net profit for the second quarter ended March 31, 2015, fell 75.5 per cent to US$4.3 million year on year, due to the impact of the Peruvian government's closure of the north-centre fishery. Revenue fell 57 per cent to US$76.7 million from US$180 million in the year-ago period.
Its parent, Pacific Andes, reported a 74 per cent drop in net profit to HK$46 million (S$7.9 million) in the second quarter from HK$174 million a year ago. Revenue fell 41 per cent to HK$1.32 billion from HK$2.23 billion.

China Fishery said its net-debt-to-equity ratio has improved from 102 per cent in March 2014 to 73 per cent as at March 28, 2015, well ahead of target. The completion of its rights issue and redemption of the Copeinca notes will bring about a further reduction in gearing levels.

Broker's take: DBS raises Frasers Hospitality Trust's target price to S$0.96

DBS Group Research on Tuesday raised the target price of hospitality stapled group Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT) to S$0.96 a unit from S$0.95 previously, following the acquisition of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth in Australia.

As at 04:00pm, FHT was trading flat at around S$0.875 a unit.
On Monday, FHT announced its maiden acquisition with the purchase of 436-room Sofitel Sydney Wentworth for A$224 million (S$237 million), on an estimated initial net property income yield of between 6-6.5 per cent. The hotel will be leased to the master lessee, Frasers Centrepoint, FHT's sponsor, for an initial 20 years with an option to renew the lease for another 20 years.

"After imputing the proposed acquisition, we raised our discounted cash flow-based target price to S$0.96. With a projected total 12-month return of 17 per cent (10 per cent upside and 7.1 per cent yield), we reiterate our buy recommendation," DBS analysts said.
They added that they were positive on the acquisition given the increased exposure to the expanding Sydney market which is a beneficiary of growing tourist arrivals, new infrastructure projects such as the Barangaroo Development and Sydney International Convention Centre redevelopment, as well as a benign supply outlook.

"The health of the market can be seen by the 4.2 per cent growth in RevPAR (revenue per available room) registered in 2014. Post-acquisition, FHT's portfolio will expand from 12 to 13 properties, with its total exposure to Australia rising to 22.4 per cent from 11.3 per cent (by value)," the analysts said.
"Assuming a S$125 million equity raising at S$0.88 per unit and 40 per cent target gearing, we estimate 2 per cent upside to our FY16F DPU (distribution per unit) forecasts," they said.

Singapore: Shares end 0.8 per cent lower

Singapore shares closed 0.8 per cent lower on Tuesday with the Straits Times Index shedding 28.47 points to 3442.33 following a drop in the United States equities.

All eyes are on Greece's bailout talks, with the European Central Bank due to reassess the emergency liquidity lines for the Greek banking system on Wednesday.

The local benchmark index was dragged down mainly by the three local banks. DBS fell S$0.27 to S$20.86, OCBC declined S$0.12 to S$10.39 while UOB dropped S$0.31 to S$24.09.
About 1.34 billion shares worth S$1.15 billion in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.86 per share.

The most actively traded stock was Golden Agri-Resources, which rose S$0.02 to S$0.44 with 86.2 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Pacific Andes and KLW.
Losers outnumbered gainers 284 to 154, or about two down for every one up.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Singapore: STI opens 14 points higher buoyed by Wall Street's strong finish on Friday

SHARES in the local bourse opened higher with the key Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 13.51 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,465.52 on Monday morning.

singapore stock advice todayAs at 9.01am, 136 counters were up and 37 were down. Some 45 million shares worth S$46 million were traded. The early morning gains were led by a positive showing in Wall Street last week; the US stock market had its best day in two months last Friday, boosted by uplifting April jobs data out of the world's largest economy.
 
The Dow Jones gained 1.5 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.2 per cent while the the Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 1.4 per cent.

Crude-oil bulls threatened as shale patch revives drilling plans

[NEW YORK] The rally in crude oil is reviving the US shale boom, threatening speculators who are the most bullish on prices since July.
forex stock tips todayMoney managers increased their net-long position in West Texas Intermediate crude by 3.9 per cent in the seven days ended May 5, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. That's a level last seen toward the start of last year's price crash. Short positions declined to the lowest this year.
A 37 per cent rebound in WTI since March has encouraged companies including EOG Resources Inc. to lay out plans to resume drilling. The shale boom had stalled amid a record decline in rigs seeking oil, and the government is predicting lower output this month. Any acceleration in drilling will raise concern that the US supply glut could worsen.
"We could soon see a second surge of production growth," Stewart Glickman, an equity analyst at S&P Capital IQ in New York, said by phone May 7. "EOG is a rather conservative company so if they are willing to dip their toes back in the water, others will as well." WTI futures gained $3.34 to $60.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the period covered by the CFTC report.