SG Market (23 Mar 18)

MARKET OVERVOIEW
- Brace for a knee-jerk sell-down after US announced tariffs on up to US$60b of Chinese imports, singling out China for the first time, sparking fears of a trade war between the two economic powerhouses.
- But there were few details on the product list, which will be unveiled over the next two weeks, which is likely to target high-tech sectors such as aerospace, ICT and machinery, followed by a 30-day consultation period before action is taken. There will also be restrictions on Chinese investments in the US.
- But the Trump administration edged away from a global trade war by exempting EU, along with Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea from its punitive steel and aluminium tariffs.
- This comes amidst more political upheaval at the White House with the latest sacking of US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, joining a long list of high profile departures.
- Technically, the STI is likely to break the downside of its triangle pattern to the next support at 3,430 level.

POSITIVE NEWS
*Bukit Sembawang
- Successfully tendered for the collective sale of the 32-unit Makeway View at the reserve price of $168m.
- Including development charge of $21.3m, the sale price reflects a land rate of $1,626 psf ppr.
- The 41,583 sf freehold site near Newton MRT has a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and can be redeveloped into 154 units.
- Assuming an ASP of $2,600 psf, the project could yield a development surplus of $0.14/share.
- This is BS second en bloc deal in a week, following the recent acquisition of Katong Park Towers for $345m.
- Last traded at 42% discount to RNAV.
- MKE has a Buy with TP of $8.55.

*Boustead Projects
- Boustead Development Partnership (BDP), a co-investment partnership with a Mid-East sovereign wealth fund, has launched an 11-floor business park with two basement car park in Mediapolis, One-North.
- The development is named ALICE, and the multi-tenanted building will have 39,487 sqm of gfa.
- It will be integrated with collaborative spaces, F&B options, recreational amenities, and shared media facilities to offer media companies the convenience of having more work done at a single location.
- Construction of ALICE is in progress, and expected to be completed by 4Q18.
- Trades at 7.2x trailing P/E.

*Hoe Leong
- Settled a lawsuit with Sumatec whereby Sumatec will pay its 80%-owned Ebony RM27m, of which RM7m will be in cash and RM20m will be in redeemable convertible preference shares.

NEGATIVE NEWS
*Midas Holdings
- Disclosed that its China legal counsel has found court documents regarding three legal cases.
- Most prominent case involve civil complaints filed by Jilin Provincial Micro Refinancing Corp, which sued 9 parties on 7 Dec '17.
- The plaintiff had lent a total of Rmb379m to companies associated with Midas, but management is unaware of how the loans transpired and the actual use of the proceeds.
- The group's audit committee only found out about the loans on 14 Mar '18, as its legal representatives did not report to the board about the litigation.
- Second case is a court order from Nanjing Xuan Wu District Court dated 16 Aug '17, and is related to Luoyang Midas and an unauthorised guarantee to a third party.
- Third case relates to another lender. Ning Xiao Fei, which sued five parties related to Midas for loans plus interest of up to Rmb40.5m.
- In a further twist, CEO Patrick Chew has resigned due to health issues and litigation matters.

*YuuZoo
- Cites "impossible" time frame given by SGX and auditors to produce business plans and 5-year DCF analysis of 46 franchisees to meet 8 Mar deadline for its auditors' opinion on certain items in its FY17 results.
- Disclosed that 23 of its franchisees significantly outperformed their expected user numbers and showed stronger-than-expected financial results in 2017.
- The franchisees are located in South Korea, UK, India, Romania, Poland and South Africa.
- Trading in its shares has been suspended since 19 Mar.

NEUTRAL NEWS
*BH Global
- Parent company Beng Hui Holdings is providing a shareholder loan of $15m to the group for working capital requirements and daily operations.
- The loan is repayable in one year, with interest of 3.92% p.a.

*Allied Technologies
- Extending the deadline for Platform Internet Capital till 30 Apr to finalise and enter into a definitive sale and purchase shares agreement.
- To recap, the group has inked a binding MOU to acquire 51% stake in e-commerce ticketing platform Asia Box and is negotiating on a price for the acquisition.
- As a gauge, the target company's internal valuation is estimated to be $60m.

*Mirach Energy
- Proposed placement of 56m new shares at $0.10 apiece to 12 individuals as well as Zhuang Sheng Singapore.
- Net proceeds of $5.6m will be used to pay for its acquisition of a 70% stake in RCL.