SG Market (01 Mar 13)

SG Market: S’pore shares may pull back a little on Wall Street late retreat ahead of the sequester scheduled to start on midnight this Fri. President Obama and Congress are to meet later to try and thrash out a last minuted deal to avoid US$85b in mandatory spending cuts. Also in focus will be China's official PMI data. Expect the STI index to remain muted as investors opt out of big risks ahead of China PMI and US sequestration deadline. Support for STI still holds at at 3255 with resistance at 3300. Stocks to watch out for: *Noble Group: Results at low end of estimates with 4Q12 and FY12 net profits at US$91.1m (-14%) and US$471.3m (+9%). This is despite FY12 revenue hitting US$94b (+16%) on a record sales tonnage of 224m tonnes (+2%) as strength in the energy segment and upturn in metals contribution was offset by adverse agriculture environment, resulting in some margin slippage. Adjusted net gearing (net of marketable inventory) improved to 0.35x from 0.45x the previous year. Group is hiking its DPS to US1.81¢ from US1.65¢. *Golden Agri: 4Q12 and FY12 net profit of US$53.6m and US$409.6m were both below forecasts due to weaker CPO prices offsetting bumper production, higher soybean raw material prices and price caps imposed on edible oils in China. Stripping out exceptional items from lower fair value gains from biological assets (US$49m vs US$903m in FY11), FX and impairment losses, core earnings still recorded steep declines of 60% in 4Q12 and 29% for the full year. Group is declaring final DPS to 0.59¢, taking full year total to 1.19¢ lower than the 1.84¢ paid in FY11. *UOL: Reported blowout net earnings of $807.7m for FY12, boosted by hefty fair value gains of $550m from investment properties and those of its associates. Excluding these, net earnings of $361.2m (-32%) would have been in-line with forecasts with decline in sales of development properties buffered by recurring rental income from offices, shopping malls and hotels. Gearing dropped to 0.28x from 0.35x, while book NAV rose to $7.98 from $6.88 previously. DPS of 15¢ maintained. *Ho Bee: FY12 results beat expectations as revenues increased 39% to $461.6m, while earnings declined 8% to $187.1m, mainly due to a 57% drop in fair value gains from investment properties lower associates’ contributions. This jump in revenue was largely driven by higher sales booking from its One Pemimpin and Trilight projects. NAV last stood at $2.58; DPS raised from 4¢ to 5¢. *Wee Hur: FY12 results beat estimates as net profit swelled to $92.9m (+754%) as revenue soared 146% to $465.7m due to the lumpy sale and profit recognition of an industrial property development, Harvest@Woodlands. The group is also developing another bigger industrial project (Premier@Kaki Bukit and 2 residential projects (Urban Residences, Parc Centros), which will be booked upon completion in 2014 and 2016. As at end 2012, it boasts a construction orderbook of $528m and cash position of $201m. Final DPS of 3¢ proposed, taking total DPS for FY12 to 4¢. *Jardine C&C: Results missed estimates due to non trading items but underlying core earnings was in-line and stable at US$1.02b. FY12 revenue rose 7% to US$21.5b, while net profit dipped 4% to US$987m. Non-trading items comprised deferred tax of US$31m from dividends receivable from Astra, impairment loss of US$45m on its Vietnam investments and fair value loss of US$16m on Astra’s palm oil plantations. NAV +5% to US$13.04. DPS maintained at US$1.23. *Sembcorp Marine: Secured a second US$208m jack-up rig from repeat customer Perisai with delivery scheduled in 2Q15. *Nam Cheong: Awarded US$130m contract to build 4 multi-purpose platform support vessels (including options for 4 additional units) for Bumi Armada. This represents one of its largest order win in its corporate history and brings the group’s confirmed orderbook to RM1.3b. The sales are expected to contribute positively to FY13-15 earnings. *Ezion: Proposed private placement of 50m new shares at $1.895 apiece, raising $93.5m to fund the acquisition of a liftboat. Other Results: *Venture: Results in-line. FY12 revenue -2% to $2,387.7m, net profit -11% to $139.7m; 4Q revenue -6% to $592.8m, net profit flat at $38.2m. NAV stood at $6.55. Final DPS cut to 50¢ from 55¢ was disappointing. *UMS: Results below expectations. FY12 revenue -1% to $113.2m, net profit -39% to $17m; 4Q revenue -14% to $21.6m, net profit -79% to $1.2m. Final DPS of 2¢ takes FY12 DPS to 5¢. *CAO: Results topped estimates. FY12 revenue +64% to US$14.8b, net profit +4% to US$66.2m; 4Q revenue +106%% to US$4.4b, net profit +219% to US$18.2m. DPS cut to 10¢ from 15¢ in previous year. *UE: Results beat estimates. FY12 revenue -50% to $595.7m, net profit -73% to $72.2m. Net gearing deteriorated to 0.88x from 0.74x while NAV stood at $4.06. Final DPS of 2¢ taking FY12 DPS to 5¢. *GMG Global: Weak set of results, below estimates