SG Market (03 Oct 13)

SG Market: Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride amid a retreat on Wall Street as the US government shutdown enters its second day and data showed private employers added fewer jobs than forecast. Reflecting the market anxiety, the CBOE Volatility Index rose 6.8% to 16.6, after gaining 25% over the past two weeks. Investors appear to have second thoughts about a quick resolution to the budget bill given the lack of progress out of Washington, raising concerns of a prolonged stalemate and the possibility of a US debt default as the 17 Oct deadline appraoches. Meanwhile President Obama will be meeting Congressional leaders at 2130 GMT to thrash out the budget impasse and raise the US debt limit. Adding to worries, US private sector added 166,000 jobs in Sep, below the 180,000 estimate. The STI has breached the technical support level at 3,160, as represented by the 50-day moving average and is headed towards the next support at 3,136. Topside resistance remains at the psychological 3,200 level. Stocks to watch for: *Cordlife: Proposed private placement of up to 26.8m new shares (10% of enlarged share base) @ $1.25 or 2.3% discount to last done, split into 2 tranches comprising 1) 17.8m offer shares via UOB as placement agent and 2) 9m subscription shares by 5 investors (1 fund, 4 indivuduals), to raise gross proceeds of up to $33.5m, which will be used to further fund and support its operations in its expanded geographical footprint and for general working capital purposes. Company also clarified that CEO Jeremy Yee is not stepping down from the board of Cordlife but from the board of its 10% owned US-listed China Cord Blood Corp instead. *RH Petrogas: Proposed placement of 116m new shares @ $0.63 each, a 10.6% discount to last done of $0.705. 90% of net proceeds of $70.2m will be used to fund expenses in relation to exploration, development or production activities of Salawati Basin and Salawati Island; and the balance will be for the general working capital. *Artivision: Proposed 35.7m private share placement @ $0.12222 (8.8% discount to last done) with two-year option to subscribe an additional 35.7m shares at an equivalent price. Net proceeds of $4.3m from the placement will be earmarked to settle unpaid construction costs for the clean room and facilities following the acquisition of Colibri Assembly Thailand (82%) and the remaining as general working capital. *SGX: Total securities turnover grew 6% y/y to $30.0b in Sep by virtue of one extra trading day for the month this year. Otherwise, the securities daily average value (SDAV) was up 1% to $1.4b. Catalist turnover rose 5x yoy to $2.9b. Derivatives continued to grow, as total futures and options volume increased 26% y/y to 8.9m contracts, led by a doubling of China A50 Index futures volume to 1.7m contracts. *Superbowl: In response to a SGX query by SGX, the group disclosed that it is exploring potential corporate restructuring opportunities and will make additional updates on any possible deals before the lifting of the trading halt. *Interra: Updated that its 60% owned JV, Goldpetrol, has commenced drilling development in one of the wells in Chauk oil field in Myanmar. Drilling will be done using Goldpetrol’s rig, and costs are expected to be low. Interra’s share of drilling cost will be funded by existing cash. Results of drilling should be available in approximately 6 weeks. *Vallianz: Issued US$35.2m redeemable convertible capital securities to Rawabi, a leading Saudi Arabia oil and gas services company. Under a separate option agreement, the group will issue an aggregate 500m non-transferable share options to Swiber, which could raise gross proceeds of up $27.5m, if all options are exercised, to be used for fleet expansion and general working capital *Swiber: Acquired options of its 28.9% owned associate Vallianz for a nominal $1, which carry the right to subscribe for 500m new Vallianz shares @ $0.055 each, over a two-year period. *Midas: Established $500m multicurrency medium term note programme with DBS and HSBC. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of existing borrowings and financing of acquisitions, investments and working capital and capex requirements. *Foreland Fabritech: Warns of a 3Q13 loss amid a significant drop in revenue as demand and selling price for the high-grade textile products, including both apparel and umbrella products, have been pressured by the weak business conditions.