Shares of casino operator Genting Singpore PLC fell as much as 4.5% to a three week low after some analysts said its fourth quarter earnings missed their expectations, reported Reuters.
By 9:05 a.m., Genting’s shares were 3% lower at $1.615 with over 3 million shares changing hands, making it the most actively traded stock on the stock.
Genting, whose main asset is the Resorts World at Sentosa casino complex, made $398.8 million in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation last quarter, up from $384.7 million a year ago.
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Shares of Neptune Orient Lines, the world’s sixth biggest container shipping firm, opened 8.8% lower after reporting a worse-than-expected quarterly loss due to high fuel costs and lower freight rates, reported Reuters.
At 9:11 a.m., NOL shares had extended losses and were trading around 10.88 percent lower at $1.27 a share, down $0.155.
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Singapore shares may fall on Thursday, following losses on Wall Street overnight as weak data on European business activity fanned concerns of a recession in the euro zone.
The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 0.97% on Wednesday to 2,995.59 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch, according to Reuters:
Neptune Orient Lines, the world’s sixth largest container shipping firm, will be in focus after it reported on Wednesday a larger-than-expected quarterly loss due to high fuel costs and lower freight rates.
Casino operator Genting Singapore said on Wednesday it was looking to invest in new projects after it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter and announced its first-ever dividend.
Singapore Airlines cut its cargo capacity by 20% as global economic slowdown led to persistent weakness in demand and high jet fuel prices piled pressure on its profitability.
Commodity firm Olam said it has launched and priced the issue of Singapore dollar denominated perpetual capital securities and will raise $275 million through the offering.
Oil and gas services firm Ezion said it plans to raise net proceeds of about $95 million through a placement of 110,000 shares at $0.88 each– a 6.6% discount to the weighted average price for trades done on Tuesday. Most of the proceeds will go towards the acquisition of offshore and marine assets.
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Neptune Orient Lines, owner of Asia’s No. 3 container line, posted its biggest quarterly loss in at least 10 years because of falling freight rates and higher fuel costs, reported Bloomberg.
The shipping line reported its fourth straight quarterly loss of US$320.4 million ($403.1 million) in the three months to Dec 30, compared with a profit of US$177 million a year earlier, the company said in a stock exchange statement today. That was wider than the US$123.6 million average loss of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales dropped 13% to US$2.4 billion.
The company’s APL unit and five other container lines will begin cooperating on Asia-Europe routes next month after price wars and a glut of vessels caused industrywide losses. A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the largest cargo-box carrier, is also cutting Asia-Europe capacity 9% in a bid to revive rates.
“Lines need to keep capacity in control,” said Erik Bergoo, an analyst at DNB Bank in Singapore. “It will be a volatile journey over the next two years.”
Financial performance will “remain weak” if high fuel costs and overcapacity continue, the company said.
“The performance of container shipping is disappointing,” Chief Executive Officer Ng Yat Chung said in the statement. “We are urgently addressing costs and all other factors under our control to improve our performance.”
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Singapore Airlines cut its cargo capacity by 20% as global economic slowdown led to persistent weakness in demand and high jet fuel prices piled pressure on its profitability, reported Reuters.
“Cargo demand over the last year has been very weak. Airlines are still running their cargo schedules a little too high and load factors have been falling for some time now,” said Andrew Orchard, an analyst at RBS.
“Twenty percent is quite a hefty amount. SIA has seen their cargo (business) hold up better than some of their peers, like some Chinese airlines. So it’s a little surprising that they’ve decided to take such a drastic step.”
SIA Cargo, which operates 13 Boeing 747-400 freighters, said the capacity reductions were implemented recently and would continue into the northern summer operating season which starts late next month.
The carrier has reported operating losses in the past three quarters.
“With no improvement expected in the first half of this calendar year, and with stubbornly high fuel prices pushing up costs, we have taken appropriate action to reduce our freighter operations to better match capacity to demand,” SIA cargo president Tan Kai Ping said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Neptune Orient Lines, parent of Southeast Asia’s biggest container line, plans to cut costs by US$500 million ($629 million) this year and increase freight rates after posting its biggest quarterly loss in a decade.
Spending cuts will come from steps including reduced fuel consumption, better fuel purchasing and improvements in network design, Chief Executive Officer Ng Yat Chung told reporters today in Singapore after the company posted a US$320.4 million fourth-quarter loss.
The carrier’s sales fell 13% in the three months ended Dec. 30 to US$2.4 billion. The company was expected to make a loss of US$123.6 million in the period based on the average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
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Genting Singapore Plc said it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter, helped by higher earnings from its casino in Singapore.
Genting Singapore, whose main asset is the Resorts World at Sentosa casino in Singapore, reported net profit of $262 million in October-December, compared to a loss of $150.3 million a year ago.
Resorts World at Sentosa made $398 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) last quarter, up from $384 million a year ago. Fourth-quarter EBITDA was also higher than the $375 million reported in July-September.
Genting Singapore has declared a dividend of one cent per share.
In a separate announcement, Genting Singapore also said it has been accorded a credit rating of Baa1 by Moody’s and A- by Fitch Ratings respectively.
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Singapore’s Ezion Holdings said had secured a three-year charter contract worth up to US$118 million ($148.6 million) to provide a service rig to a European-based multinational oil firm, reported Reuters.
Ezion said on Wednesday the rig will be used to support the oil company’s oil and gas activities in offshore Myanmar. Ezion did not provide the name of company.
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Shares of Singapore’s Wilmar International (WLIL.SI), the world’s largest listed palm oil firm, fell as much as 9% in early trading on concerns about margins at its consumer business, reported Reuter.
Wilmar had earlier on Wednesday posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit as its expanded sugar operations made up for weakness at its core palm oil business.
By 9:06 a.m., Wilmar shares were down 8% at $5.38, underperforming the Straits Times Index which was 0.3% lower.
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CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT), a real estate investment trust, said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy an office building on the outskirts of Singapore’s central business district for $430 million, reported Reuters.
The acquisition will be funded with existing cash and bank facilities, without the need to raise equity, CCT said in a statement to the stock exchange.
The purchase price for Twenty Anson, a two-year-old office tower, works out to $2,121 per square foot of net lettable area.
Singapore shares may drift lower on Wednesday, following weak starts in Tokyo and Seoul, with the surge in oil prices likely to weigh on transport stocks such as Singapore Airlines and Neptune Orient Line.
The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.13 percent on Tuesday to 3,025.07 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch, according to Reuters:
Wilmar International, the world’s largest listed palm oil firm, on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 57% rise in fourth quarter net profit, helped by contributions from its expanded sugar operations.
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT), a real estate investment trust, said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy an office building on the outskirts of central business district for $430 million. CapitaCommercial Trust will purchase the property from fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management Asia and Lum Chang Holdings.
DBS Bank on Tuesday sold US$1 billion of senior fixed-rate notes in the 144a private placement market, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.
Port operator Hutchison reported on Tuesday net profit of HK$608.2 million ($99 million) for the three months ended December, 3% higher than its forecast of HK$592.9 million.
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Wilmar International, the world’s largest listed palm oil firm, on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 57% rise in fourth quarter net profit, helped by contributions from its expanded sugar operations.
The company posted a net profit of US$500 million ($629 million), up from US$318.6 million a year ago. It was the highest quarterly profit since September 2009 and exceeded the US$469.2 million average forecast of five analysts polled by Reuters.
The company’s earnings in 2010 were hit by weak margins at its oilseeds and grains business and ill-timed purchases of the commodities.
Wilmar, which owns palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia as well as sugar operations in Australia, said it is well positioned to capture agri-related expansion opportunities that might arise this year.
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Singapore shares may drift downwards on Tuesday after Tokyo and Seoul opened lower, with investors staying on the sidelines until a rescue deal for Greece is reached. The U.S. market was closed for a public holiday.
The benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> rose 0.69% on Monday to 3,021.19 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch, according to Reuters:
CapitaMalls Asia, a Singapore shopping mall developer and operator, may be in focus after announcing that it had acquired the remaining 73.71% stakes each in three Japanese malls. The malls are in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe.
Budget carrier Tiger Airways said on Tuesday that the air operator’s certificate of Indonesia’s PT Mandala Airlines, in which it has a 33% investment, had been reactivated. Mandala’s certificate had been frozen since the suspension of its operations in January 2011.
Rubber producer GMG Global said on Monday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 29.4% to $16.7 million from a year earlier, helped by higher sales and average selling prices.
Yangzijiang said on Monday it had secured contracts to build seven vessels with a total value of US$206.2 million since the start of 2012.
Contract manufacturer Hi-P International denied a broker’s report that it had secured a large order, believed to be from Apple, for its new metal-casing business. Hi-P also said that its planned capital expenditure of around $100 million is for the acquisition of different machinery and equipment, as well as for the expansion of the firm’s production facilities.
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CIMB Research upgraded Singapore-listed commodity trading firm Noble Group to neutral from underperform and raised its target price to $1.43 from $0.99, reported Reuters.
By 11:36 p.m., shares of Noble were little changed at $1.495, and have gained about 32&% since the start of the year.
CIMB said it has upgraded Noble, as improving leading economic indicators suggest global economies have averted a recession.
The brokerage expects Noble to return to profitability in the fourth quarter, and estimates the company will report a net profit of US$82.6 million ($103.6 million).
However, CIMB cautioned that Noble’s share price rally has run ahead of its fundamentals and said investors should wait for a pullback before buying its shares.
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Shares of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) rose as much as 4.8% to their highest since July after Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping firm, said it will cut 9% of its vessel capacity in the Asia-Europe trade, reported Reuters.
“The planned capacity cut should support freight rates and people might be reading across to NOL,” said Eric Ong, an analyst at Kim Eng.
By 10:39 a.m., NOL shares were 3.8% higher at $1.50 in a broader market up 0.5%. NOL shares have jumped more than 30% so far this year.
Maersk Line, a unit of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said the capacity reduction was a move to combat low freight rates resulting from an oversupply of container vessels on the Asia-Europe trade lane.
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Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Southeast Asia’s second-largest bank, said fourth-quarter profit rose 18% as loan demand climbed reported Bloomberg.
Net income in the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $594 million from $505 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based lender said in a statement to the stock exchange today. That beat the $574.3 million average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
OCBC joins larger rival DBS Group Holdings in reporting quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on loan expansion. Lending may weaken in coming months after Singapore adopted measures to curb mortgages in December, and asset quality may decline as the economy cools.
“Loan growth was significant for all Singapore banks including OCBC over the quarter, and that should have done enough to offset the slight narrowing of net interest margins,” Sam Hilton, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., said before the results.
DBS said Feb. 10 its quarterly profit gained 7.8% to $731 million
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Singapore shares are expected to open stronger as Asian markets rose in early trade after China boosted lending capacity, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp is in the limelight following better-than-expected results.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.79% on Friday to 3,000.59 points. Here are some stocks and factors to watch according to Reuters:
OCBC, Singapore’s second-biggest lender reported an 18% rise in quarterly profit, buoyed by strong loan growth.
SBS Transit, ComfortDelgro Corp, SMRT Corp: Singapore transport operators may be in focus after the Singapore government said it will spend $1.1 billion to help bus operators increase the size of their fleets. The city-state will also expand its railway networks.
SingTel said on Monday its Australian subsidiary, Optus Mobile, had agreed to acquire Vividwireless Group from Network Investment Holdings for A$230 million ($309 million).
Commodities firm Olam International said on Monday it had appointed DBS Bank, J.P. Morgan and UBS AG as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the firm’s planned issue of perpetual capital securities denominated in Singapore dollar.
Raffles Medical said on Monday its 2011 net profit rose 11.3% to $50.4 million from a year earlier, partly helped by improved operating efficiency, higher patient load, the recruitment of more specialist consultants and a wider range of medical specialties. Raffles Medical may also benefit from Singapore’s plan to double yearly expenditure on healthcare to $8 billion from the current $4 billion over the next five years.
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Sembcorp Marine, the world’s second largest rig builder, said on Friday its subsidiary PPL Shipyard has won a US$213 million ($269 million) contract to build a jack-up drilling rig for Safin Gulf FZCO.
The rig is due for delivery in November 2012.
Safin Gulf is part of the privately owned Austria-based Safin GmbH, a group that is involved steel trading, distribution, coal, oil trading and mining.
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Roxy-Pacific Holdings, the homegrown specialty property and hospitality group, reported net profit for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011 fell 5% from a year ago to $11.41 million.
Revenue fell 11% at $42.11 million.
For the full year ended December 31, 2012, Roxy-Pacific posted a net profit of $49.66 million, up 16% from 2010. This was despite a 15% slip in revenue for the full year to $183.65 million.
The group’s bottomline was lifted up by an increase in other operating income to $24.9 million in FY2011 from $10.4 million a year ago due to higher fair value gains on retail shops in Roxy Square and the transfer of Kovan Centre from investment property to development property.
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LMA International NV reported a 20.45% decrease in net profit for 4Q ended Dec 31, 2011.
Earnings fell to US$3.15 million ($4 million) from US$3.96 million a year ago despite a 9.2% increase in revenue to US$31.17 million.
Year to date, the group posted earnings of US$16.12 million, representing a 39.4% in- crease from a year ago.
Turnover increased 14.56% to a record US$123.89 million driven by strong performances in a number of international markets, above market growth in the US and integration of the acquisitions of Wolfe Tory Medical Inc and Vitaid Ltd.
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