Singapore container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) (NEPS.SI) on Monday halted trading in its shares pending an announcement.
NOL, the world’s sixth-largest container shipping firm, has resumed talks about buying German rival Hapag-Lloyd (HPLG.UL), German paper Die Welt reported on Saturday without identifying its sources.
NOL broke off talks in 2008 after failing to agree on a price for Hapag-Lloyd, which is owned by a consortium of Hamburg-based investors and tourism group TUI (TUIGn.DE).
NOL’s spokesman said earlier the firm does not comment on market speculation.
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Singapore shares are likely to open higher today, buoyed by data showing US unemployment fell to a 2-1/2-year low and as Italy unveiled a package of austerity measures to shore up its strained finances and stave off a euro zone crisis.
The benchmark Straits Times Index gained 0.42% to 2,773.36 points on Friday.
Here are some stocks and factors to watch, according to Reuters:
Container shipping group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) may be in focus after a German paper Die Welt reported on Saturday the firm has resumed talks about buying German rival Hapag-Lloyd (HPLG.UL), without identifying its sources.
Singapore Exchange said turnover in securities trading on its bourse fell 37% in November year-on-year to $25.4 billion, hurt by global uncertainties. Securities daily average value was $1.2 billion, down 40% from a year earlier.
More than 200 workers at a electronics plant owned by Hi-P International in Shanghai remained on strike for a third day on Friday to denounce what they said was a management plan for mass layoffs.
Sim Lian Group said its wholly-owned subsidiaries have been jointly awarded the tender for a land parcel in Singapore with a site area of 18,954.5 square metres for commercial and residential development.
UMS, which makes semiconductor equipments, said it will acquire two manufacturing companies, Integrated Manufacturing Technologies and Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Inc for $28 million in total.
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Shares of Singapore-listed Chinese property developer Yanlord Land Group (YNLG.SI) jumped as much as 5.9% on Thursday, boosted by news that China had cut its reserve requirement ratio for banks.
At 9:30 a.m., shares of Yanlord Land were 4.9% higher at $1.07 with over 11.1 million shares changing hands. Another Chinese real estate company Ying Li International (YING.SI) surged 5.9% to S$0.27.
Both outperformed the benchmark Straits Times Index’s <.FTSTI> 2.5% gain.
The People’s Bank of China cut the reserve requirement ratio for commercial lenders for the first time in three years late on Wednesday.
The move was seen by some market watchers as a sign of long-awaited policy easing, and was followed by a co-ordinated effort by global central banks to ease dollar-funding costs.
“The rate cut by China will boost liquidity, and may make it easier for property developers to do some borrowing, thus boosting sentiment in their shares today,” said a local dealer.
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Singapore shares are likely to rise today, after a move by major central banks to make cheaper dollar loans for struggling European banks sent US markets rallying overnight and eased fears about the euro zone’s debt woes.
The move might also boost the sentiment on Singaporean lenders DBS Group Holdings , Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank, says Reuters.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.53% on Wednesday to 2,702.46 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties may be in focus after it said it priced its $500 million perpetual capital securities on Wednesday to yield 5.5%.
Sunshine Holdings said its wholly owned subsidiary has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Tian Cheng Holdings, which owns two iron ore mines in China, for 350 million yuan ($70.6 million).
Ascott Residence Trust, which owns serviced residences, said it has established a US$2 billion ($2.6 billion) euro medium-term note programme, whose net proceeds will go towards financing working capital, asset-enhancement works and corporate requirements like acquisitions and investments.
Palm oil firm Wilmar International will partner US commodity firm Gavilon to import and process palm, coconut and palm kernel oils to serve California and the west coast markets in the United States, Gavilon said in a statement.
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Shipbuilder STX OSV (STXO.SI) said on Wednesday it has secured a contract worth 1.2 billion Norwegian crowns ($266 million) for the construction of a research vessel.
The vessel will be built for Norwegian Defence Logistic Organisation, which provides procurement, investment, support, supply and maintenance for the country’s military assets.
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Singapore shares may rise on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in US stocks overnight as better-than-expected consumer confidence data and hopes for more progress towards a solution for Europe’s debt woes boosted sentiment.
The benchmark Straits Times Indexfell 0.23% to 2,688.10 points on Tuesday. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Shipbuilder STX OSV may be in focus after it said it has secured a contract worth 1.2 billion Norwegian crowns ($266 million) for the construction of a research vessel.
Singapore Exchange on Tuesday named Chng Lay Chew as chief financial officer effective Dec. 29, filling a position that has been vacant for several months.
Offshore and marine services firm Ezra Holdings said on Tuesday it had won a new charter and charter renewals for four offshore support vessels worth US$231 million ($299 million) in total.
United Engineers said it has established a $500 million multicurrency medium-term note programme and appointed HSBC and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation as the joint arrangers and dealers of the programme.
Construction firm Lian Beng Group said it has secured contracts worth $98 million for building works on a public housing project, a factory and a workers’ dormitory in Singapore.
Online hotel and travel site Asiatravel.com said it made a net loss of $1.6 million for the full year ended Sept. 30, compared with a net profit of $1.6 million the year before, weighed by higher advertising and promotion expenses.
Etika International Holdings, one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of sweetened condensed milk, announced profit after tax for FY2011 was RM29 million ($11.8 million) compared to RM66 million in FY2010, mainly due to higher cost of key component raw materials, operating expenses and financing costs.
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Shares of Singapore’s oil rig builder Sembcorp Marine (SCMN.SI) rose as much as 3.3% on Monday, boosted by hopes it could benefit from a jump in U.S. crude oil futures, traders said.
At 9:50 a.m., shares of Sembcorp Marine, the world’s second-largest rig maker, were 2.7% higher at $3.75 with more than 1 million shares changing hands.
U.S. crude futures rose more than US$1.50 ($1.96) per barrel in early Asian trade on Monday on optimism about euro zone debt after Germany and France explored radical methods of securing deeper and more rapid fiscal integration among the bloc.
Its larger rival, Keppel Corp (KPLM.SI), was 1.6% higher at $9.05.
Traders said Sembcorp Marine is outperforming Keppel in early trading on Monday as it has fallen more than the latter so far this month.
Keppel shares have fallen 4.6% since the start of November, while Sembcorp Marine has lost 11.4% in the same period.
“Rising oil prices will benefit rig builders. Moreover if concerns over the global economy and euro zone problems ease up, this will also help boost demand for oil drilling and rigs,” said a local trader.
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Singapore shares are likely to rise today, helped by hopes for more concrete steps to tackle the euro zone debt crisis as Germany and France explore radical methods of securing deeper and more rapid fiscal integration among the bloc.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> fell 1.24% on Friday to 2,643.93 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Southeast Asia’s largest property developer CapitaLand may be in focus after a newspaper in Singapore reported the firm could place its $7 billion projects in China into real estate investment trust (REIT), quoting the firm’s senior executive.
Great Eastern Holdings, the insurance arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, said it would acquire the overseas foreign invested ordinary shares of New China Life Insurance Co., which is seeking a listing in Hong Kong, for a total of US$380 million ($500 million).
Ascott Residence Trust, which owns serviced residences, said it will acquire a 60% stake in in the 160-unit Citadines Shinjuku Tokyo from Mitsubishi Estate Co and Citadines Shinjuku Ippan Shadan Hojin, for about $45.7 million.
Frozen fish supplier Pacific Andes Resources said its net profit for the full year ended September 28 fell 19.4% to HK$622.8 million ($105 million) from HK$773.1 million, hit by higher expenses and a one-time charge related to the early redemption of sister firm China Fishery’s senior notes. This also dragged the net profit of China Fishery down by 11.1% in the same period to US$103.7 million ($136.2 million), from US$116.5 million a year ago.
Coal miner Sakari Resources said a bridge that lies over the Mahakam river in Indonesia had collapsed on Saturday. The river is a major conduit of coal barge trafflic and supplies to and from upstream mines, including the firm’s Jembayan mine. However, Sakari said production at the mine is continuing as normal.
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Singapore shares may open lower on Friday after German government bond yields hit their highest in nearly a month and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she remained opposed to the use of jointly issued euro bonds to combat the region’s worsening debt crisis, reported Reuters.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index edged 0.02% higher on Thursday to 2,677.15 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Heng Long said the Singapore Exchange had no objection to the delisting of the company from the bourse. Luxury group LVMH had offered to buy the company at $0.60 per share.
China New Town said the auction for two land parcels at its Luodian project in China had been postponed due to insufficient bidder interest. The company added that it expects to report a net loss for its full year ending Dec 31, 2011, compared with a net profit a year earlier.
Chasen Holdings said it was not aware of the reason behind the volatility of its share price in the last few days. The company added that its business fundamentals remained sound and that it will be seeking shareholders’ approval for a new share buyback mandate.
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Singapore’s inflation rate exceeded 5% for a fifth month as prices of transportation and housing surged, reported Bloomberg.
The consumer price index rose 5.4% in October from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said in a statement today. That compares with the 5.2% median estimate of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Inflation was 5.5% in September, according to previously reported data.
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Property and construction group TA Corp says it has won two contracts worth a total of $271 million to build two condominiums in the city-state for Allgreen Properties.
Construction is scheduled to start in early 2012, with completion in 28-34 months.
With the latest win, TA Corp’s construction order book now stands at around $587 million.
Straits Times Index fell 1.5% to 2,677.44 at midday. heading for its lowest close since Oct. 10. Just one share advanced in the index of 30 companies.
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Singapore shares may open lower on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street overnight as investors remain concerned over Europe’s worsening debt crisis and data showed the US economy grew at a slower than expected pace in the third quarter.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index gained 0.71% on Tuesday at 2,717.20 points.
Chinese shipbuilder Cosco Corp may be in focus after it said on Tuesday that Jiang Li Jun had stepped down as president and been redesignated as a non-executive director.
Chinese real estate firm Sunshine Holdings said its wholly-owned subsidiary has agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in Tian Cheng Holdings for 350 million yuan ($71.6 million). Tian Cheng owns exploration rights over two iron ore mines in China.
Steel firm BRC Asia said on Tuesday its net profit for the year ended September 30 fell 30% to $15.2 million, due partly to a fall in gross profit margin as the rise in average steel costs was greater than the increase in average unit selling prices.
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Singapore shares are likely to fall on Tuesday as the lack of progress in dealing with debt woes in Europe and the United States weighs on investor confidence.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index fell 1.19% on Monday to 2,697.98 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Food group Cerebos Pacific may be in focus after New Zealand’s honey products company Comvita said on Tuesday its independent directors have rejected a takeover offer from Cerebos.
Abalone breeder Oceanus replied to queries from the Singapore Exchange on Monday regarding its third quarter financial results. It said the exceptionally high mortality rate of its abalones were due to poor conditions resulting from unavailable quality feed and high temperatures during the summer season.
Keppel T&T said on Monday its joint venture Keppel Logistics (Foshan) has opened its new distribution centre in Foshan, China, which will add another 35,000 square meters of warehousing space for the firm.
Sino Techfibre’s special auditors KPMG said in a report it was hindered in its efforts to conduct a probe on the firm’s accounting discrepancies. KPMG said it was not given access to five of the six computers used by Sino Techfibre and the local tax bureau refused to accede to the firm’s request for its sales and purchase invoices.
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Shares of Singapore container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) (NEPS.SI) fell as much as 4.3% on Monday due to a mixture of concerns about weak demand and oversupply in the sector.
At 11:02 a.m., NOL shares were down 3.3% at $1.02, underperforming the broader Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> which was 0.8% lower. NOL stock has fallen more than 50% so far this year.
“The economic outlook is not great, and there is too much capacity in the industry,” said Suvro Sarkar, an analyst at DBS Vickers.
“There has to be a coordinated idling of ships. If they continue to undercut each other and put on capacity and compete on prices, everyone will suffer.”
Last month, NOL posted a wider-than-expected loss for its third quarter and warned of a possible full year loss for the year ended December 2011.
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Singapore shares may open lower on Monday after US stock index futures fell as a US congressional committee looked set to concede failure in its bid to cut at least US$1.2 trillion ($1.6 trillon) from the deficit over the next ten years.
The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 1.72% on Friday to 2,730.34 points.
Thai Village Holdings has posted a 36% decline in net profit to $1.76 million for the full-year ended Sept 30, 2011 from $2.73 million a year ago. Revenue fell 7% to $28.87 million from $30.98 million a year ago due to competition in China and closure of the loss-making Kunming outlet.
Super Group says subsidiary, Super Continental, plans to invest an estimated RM138 million ($56.4 million) in a botanical herbal extract (BHE) project in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Mermaid Maritime Public Company says its subsidiary, Subtech (Seychelles), has secured a US$11.5 million ($14.9 million) contract to provide subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance services, in addition to saturation diving operations for an end client in Congo.
Singapore Post has appointed German Sascha Hower as its Chief Operations Officer, the company announced today. Dr Hower, who has been with McKinsey & Company in Dusseldorf, Germany since 2004, will oversee the optimisation and synergies across all of SingPost’s operations. He takes office on January 3, 2012.
Offshore vessel builder STX OSV Holdings may be in focus after it said that a contract to build eight LPG carriers for Brazil’s Petrobras Transportes S.A. worth about US$536 million has been made effective.
Property developer CapitaLand said its serviced residence unit, The Ascott Limited, had secured contracts to manage two properties in Foshan and Hong Kong, China. The value of the contracts was not disclosed.
Commodities trader Noble Group may dodge the downgrade bullet, even after poor third-quarter results, but the company has its work cut out to convince investors its risk management is robust enough to withstand increasingly volatile markets.
Construction firm PSL Holdings said on Monday it was preparing the relevant documents to diversify into the coal-mining business. The company said it will be seeking shareholders’ approval on the diversification.
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Due to feedbacks from some authorities and followers, we are regret to announce the termination of our SiMSCI post on our blog start from 21 NOV 2011. Very thankful for your all time supports and hope everyone can have a success trading in future :).
Singapore Airlines says it has purchased eight more Boeing B777-300ERs for use on medium and long-haul routes.
Announced in August this year, SIA firmed up its order by signing a purchase agreement, it announced in a statement today. Delivery of the aircraft will begin in the 2013/2014 financial year.
The eight airplanes will cost SIA about US$2.4 billion ($3.1 billion). They will be powered by General Electric engines, and come with a three-class layout.
They join a fleet of 19 planes of the same model already in service, bumping up the total number to 27.
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Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) (STEG.SI) said on Friday its U.S. shipyard has secured a $441 million contract to build eight offshore supply vessels for Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc (HOS.N).
ST Engineering said in a statement to the stock excahnge that Hornbeck also has options for up to 24 additional identical vessels.
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Singapore shares may retreat on Friday after US stocks closed lower, having broken a key technical level on worries about the euro zone’s debt crisis which had pushed borrowing costs for France and Spain sharply higher.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index fell 1.04% on Thursday to 2,778.25 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
Singapore property and construction firm Lian Beng may be in focus after it said its 50%-owned joint venture had agreed to acquire a residential block in the city-state for $130 million.
Chinese property developer Yanlord said on Thursday the chief operating officer of palm oil firm Wilmar International (WLIL.SI), Martua Sitorus, now held 5.10% of deemed interest in Yanlord shares, up from 4.65%.
Singapore Airlines, the world’s second-largest carrier by market value, said on Friday it has firmed up its previously announced order of eight Boeing 777-300ERs, valued at US$2.4 billion ($3.1 billion) at list price. The planes will be powered by General Electric GE90 engines.
Pacific Shipping Trust said on Thursday the Singapore Exchange had given an in-principle approval of the proposed delisting of the company from the bourse.
