SG Market (03 Mar 15)

From a chart perspective, the STI is still trapped within the 3,390-3,450 trading band with immediate resistance at 3,423.

Stocks to watch:
*Noble: S&P reiterated its BBB-/Stable rating on Noble post weak earnings announcement and short-sell report by Iceberg. S&P highlighted Noble’s improved financial leverage and strong liquidity position to mitigate weak earnings, and view the fair value accounting and mark-to-market of financial assets and liabilities as an ordinary part of operations for commodity-trading companies. Lastly, it opines risk management is adequate. Separately, Noble’s chairman and founder purchased 4.8m shares at an average price of $0.9354, lifting his stake to 20.93% from 20.86%.

*GLP: Signed pre-lease agreements totalling 97,000 sqm in Sao Paulo Brazil. With these leases, GLP has established new relationships with three-leading companies, including Sequoia Logistica, a leading third-party logistics provider in Brazil for fashion, apparel, e-commerce etc, and Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical company.

*Tat Hong: Entered into sale and leaseback arrangement for four properties in Australia with Primewest Funds, a national wholesale property investor and developer in Australia, for cash consideration of A$23.3m. Illustratively, had the transaction taken place in FYMar14, EPS would have increased to 5.89¢ from 5.11¢, and NTA would inch up to $0.99 from $0.98

*Chip Eng Seng: Awarded $258m contract by HDB for construction works at Tampines Neighbourhood 6 Contract 1A/1B with Park. The construction period is 42 months. The contract is expected to contribute positively towards earnings and NTA for FY15.

*YuuZoo: Launched virtual shopping mall in South Korea under a franchise model, which offers YuuZoo additional revenue at no cost. Latest valuation report by a big auditing firm values YuuZoo's stake in the franchise is valued at US$9.3m

*Magnus: Entered sales and purchase agreement to acquire remaining 50% of Mid-Continent Equipment Tubular for US$0.4m (~$0.54m), at 0.5x P/B.

*PNE Micron: Entered into MOU in relation to a 25% acquisition of Zhen Tong Mining, a company incorporated in China, which is in the business of mining and producing copper and currently holds the mining rights of a copper mine.