SG Market (22 Apr 14)

US Market: US stocks rose for a fifth day with the S&P 500 extending its longest winning streak since Oct, amid signs of improving corporate earnings. The S&P 500 advanced 0.4% to 1,872, while the blue-chip DJIA rose 0.3% to 16,449. A slew of results boosted sentiment in thin volumes as earnings from oilfield services company Halliburton (+3.3%), toymaker Hasbro (+1.9%) and chipmaker AMD (+11.7%) beat expectations. Netflix (+3%) rallied in post-market trade after its profit and subscriber growth topped estimates. Newmont Mining surged 6%, while Barrick Gold fell 3.9% on reports that merger talks could be revived. In economic news, the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators rose in Mar, signaling that growth could pick up in the coming months. Asian bourses opened missed in early trades with Nikkei up 0.5% but Kopsi losing 0.3%. S’pore shares appears a little overstretched with the STI barely 10 points off its topside resistance at 3,267 and technical indicators in overbought territory. Near term support lies at 3,230. Stocks to watch: *MLT: 4QFY14 DPU broadly in line at 1.89¢ (+9% y/y). Gross revenue rose 6% to $80.1m and NPI grew 4% to $68.3m, despite the JPY depreciation, buoyed by positive rental reversions, new contributions from completed asset enhancements in S’pore and Japan and a recently acquired Korea property, as well as lower financing costs and a divestment gain. Portfolio occupancy remained stable at 98.3%, with WALE of 4.8 years. Aggregate leverage stands at 33.3%, with weighted average interest of 1.9% and debt duration of 3.6 years. NAV/unit at $0.97. *MGCCT: 4QFY14 DPU of 1.587¢ beat IPO forecast by 15.9%, mainly due to robust rental uplift achieved from both Festival Walk and Gateway Plaza. Gross revenue of $64.9m and NPI of $52m also beat guidance by 7.5% and 8.7%, respectively. Portfolio occupancy improved 0.6ppts to 98.5% with a WALE of 2.5 years. Aggregate leverage ratio improved 2.5ppts to 38%, with weighted average interest of 2% and debt duration of 3 years. NAV/unit at $1.06. *Ascendas REIT: 4QFY14 DPU was in line at 3.55¢ (+16% y/y), bringing full year DPU to 14.24¢ (+3.6%). 4QFY14 NPI rose 12.2% to $112.3m, driven by higher rental income from The Galen, Nexus@one-north, A-REIT City@Jinqiao and positive rental reversions. On a like-for-like basis, portfolio occupancy was broadly steady y/y at 94%, with a WALE of 3.9 years. Aggregate leverage crept up to 30.8% from 28.3% due to asset enhancements. NAV/unit stands at $2.02. *Rowsley: Received government approval for its first residential development, SKIES, which is part of its integrated Vantage Bay development in Iskandar. The SKIES project will comprise two 75-storey towers with ~500 apartments each. Rowsley will next apply for the advertising permit and developer’s licence to proceed with the sale launch. *Hock Lian Seng: Awarded a $221.8m LTA contract for the construction of Maxwell Station for the Thomson MRT Line. *Cosco: Secured six contracts valued at US$100m, for four emergency response support vessels and two platform supply vessels, to be delivered by 1H16 and 2H16, respectively. *IEV: Won two contracts to supply CNG to PT Indofood’s Noodle division and Nutrition & Special Food division in Bandung for one and two years, respectively. *Biosensors: CITIC Private Equity says it is still considering options available to enhance value of its investment in Biosensors. *GP Batteries / GP Industries: HK media reported over the week end, that Andrew Ng, Vice-Chairman of HK-listed Gold Peak Industries (which owns 83% of GP Industries), and CEO of GP Batteries, jumped to his death from the office roof, noting that “sources said he had been troubled by his company’s business over the past few months and had been depressed.” *Sembcorp Industries: Told the Business Times that it is reactivating Sembcorp Properties to “develop residential and commercial properties in its existing industrial parks, starting with China.” The group aims for its urban development segment to at least double its net profit by 2020 from the $50m it generated in FY13. *Yongmao: Secured $3.0m worth of contracts for the delivery of its tower cranes to Myanmar. *Communication Design Int’l: $0.085 cash per share offer by LPW Investments closed yesterday, with the offeror receiving acceptances amounting to 71.7% of shares. As free float has fallen below SGX minimum requirement of 10%, the stock will be suspended wef today. Nevertheless, the offeror intends to preserve the listing status of the company, and may carry out a compliance placement within the next three months to restore the public float. *Fu Yu: Conditional partial offer at $0.09 per share, by general manager Ng Hock Ching to acquire 10.3% of shares not already owned by him, has lapsed. *CCM: Its wholly-owned subsidiary CCM Industrial has received a notice of termination for the $32.4m building contract to erect a 23-storey residential flat at 6 Jalan Ampas (awarded Aug ’11), on grounds of alleged breaches of contract. *Food Empire: Profit warning. Expects to report a net loss for 1Q14 due to the sharp devaluation of the Ukrainian Hryvnia and Russian Ruble against USD, amid the ongoing political standoff between two of the group’s key markets, Ukraine and Russia.