SG Market (02 Sept 13)

SG Market: Uncertainty is expected to weigh on markets this month as amid concerns over the prospects of a US military stike on Syria and the upcoming Fed meeting on 17 and 18 Sep, which will signal the Fed’s intentions and timeline for a possible scale back of its monetary stimulus policy. In the near term, the STI is likely to remain range-bound between immediate resistance at 3,065 and downside support at 2,990. Stocks to watch for: *Banks: The banking sector's loans-to-deposits ratio crossed 100% for the first time since the Asian financial crisis, providing evidence that MAS recent moves to curb excessive lending were timely. Bank lending in July continued to slow from a year ago for a third consecutive month, dragged down by slower growth in consumer loans. Domestic loans rose 17.6% y/y to $539b in July, down slightly from June's 17.7% growth. *China Minzhong: Produced invoices and regulatory filings to rebut allegations of fraud by Glaucus Research. Group claimed Glaucus relied on inappropriate documents and metrics, which are misleading and argued that Glaucus should not have looked at filings with State Administration of Taxation, which uses a different set of reports to determine taxes. Reiterated that Glaucus lack a complete understanding of the operating environment in China and disregarded different accounting standards in China and S’pore. Meanwhile, trading halt on the stock is extended pending a possible offer by controlling shareholder Indofood Sukses Makmur. *Oceanus: Trading halt to be lifted after verifying that up to 97% of its 48m abalone mortalities were recently bred, uncaged and unselected juveniles that will have no direct material financial impact on the company as these have zero value ascribed to them. Management confirmed that the group still has sufficient juveniles for selection to meet the caging and production plans from the 2012 batch of abalones bred. Announced CFO has resigned, and replaced by Wong Yew Ban, who will also be COO. *China Hongxing: Trading halt to be lifted following the resignation of CEO Wu Rongzhao with effect from 1 Sep 13, to be replaced by Lan Zhong Ming. Lan joined the company in 2011 and was previously involved in the HR, Logistics and Product Supply divisions. *Chasen: Its Technical & Engineering unit secured a total of four projects worth ~$9.1m since 1 Jul 13. The duration of the projects vary from 2–30 months. The group is confident that momentum will continue and it should see more contract wins from both its Relocation and Technical & Engineering business segments in FY13. *Tee Land: Associated Chewathai proposed to acquire 100% of Rojtaj Development, for Bt200m ($8.3m). Rojtaj owns a 30,677 sf freehold property in Bangkok, which will be redeveloped into a 26-storey residential block. The acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to further expand its regional presence and is part of its continuing foray into the Thai market. *Albedo: Extended RTO deadline with Temasya Cergas to 30 Sep. In addition, two more land parcels will be included for negotiation under the MOU, taking the total area to 919 acres from 762 acres. *China Gaoxian: Trading will resume on 18 Sep after the first tranche of proposed investment by Fleur Capital is completed. The company will be listing its warrants (1 warrant for every 2 shares, with exercise price of $0.10), on 20 Sep. Fleur will also be issued with 117.5m warrants. Separately, a new Board of Directors and new management team will be constituted on 18 Sep. *Ossia: In response to earlier SGX query on the recent subtstantial increase share price, company notes that it is continuously exploring the possibilities of potential corporate exercises on an ongoing basis. However, no specific proposals have been received by the board at the present time. *United Fiber System: Entered into subscription agreement with unsecured creditors in relation to the proposed issue of up to $45.5m 5% bonds due 2015.