SG Market (24 May 17)

The market could creep higher as Wall Street pushed to near records, while oil rallied above US$50/bbl ahead of the OPEC meeting on Thu.

Regional bourses in Tokyo (+0.8%), Seoul (+0.3%) and Sydney (+0.1%) opened higher.Technically, STI remains range-bound between its support at 3,190 and resistance at 3,275.

Stocks to watch:
*Noble: Responded to SGX query following a trading halt after its shares plunged 28% yesterday on the third ratings downgrade in a week. The group disclosed that it is still in talks with various potential strategic partners although no transaction is assured. Meanwhile, it will continue to right size its business and evaluate further asset sales. It also acknowledges but refuses to confirm a Reuters report that Sinochem is no longer interested to invest in the firm.

*GLP: Onboarded another co-investor to its GLP US Income Partners III fund with US$40m fresh equity committed. This raises the total capital commitment of fund to US$660m against its target of US$1.5b. Following this syndication, GLP’s stake in the fund has been reduced to 45.9% from 49.9%.

*Keppel Corp: Secured a contract from Jan De Nul to build two trailing suction hopper dredgers, which are valued at a total of $120m, including owner-furnished equipment. First dredger is expected to be completed by 2H19, while the second will require the purchaser to exercise an option within six months from now. This takes total orders secured year to date to a paltry $176m.

*Yoma: 4QFY17 net profit soared 171% to $24.1m (+171%), entirely boosted by $24.4m fair value gain on investment properties. This brought FY17 earnings to $35.9m (-3.5%), trailing estimates. For the quarter, revenue leapt 17.6% to $53.8m, driven by property development (+4.3%), automotive & heavy equipment (+64%), consumer (+69%), and tourism (10.7%) businesses. Gross margin expanded 10.9ppt to 40.2% on improved profitability in property development segment. Maintained final DPS of 0.25¢. NAV/share at $0.3822.

*mm2: FY17 net profit surged 130% to $18.8m along with the 149% jump in revenue to $95.4m as newly acquired UnUsUal generated additional contributions of $22.6m from events and concert promotions and cinema operations pulled in another $7.7m. Meanwhile, core business and post production turnover also swelled 86%/36% to $55.3m/$4.9mrespectively. Gross margin was maintained at ~48% NAV/share at 9¢

*UnUsUaL: 15MFY17 net profit jumped 78.4% to $7.3m by virtue of additional three months of contributions as well as $1.2m in disposal gain. Stripping this out and assuming equal contributions across Oct-Mar, 12MFY16 earnings would have come in at $5m (+20.8%), in line with its profit guarantee to parent mm2. 15MFY17 revenue of $33.9m (+29.8%) comprised promotion ($20.1m), production ($11.7m) and others ($2.1m). Gross margin improved to 35% (+4.7ppts) as more of its projects utilised internal resources. Bottomline was slightly pressured by higher admin expenses (+32.3%). NAV/share at 2.23¢..

*Boustead Singapore: 4QFY17 net profit jumped 124% to $9.2m on asset disposal gain ($8.9m) and compensation for lease termination ($9.4m), but was pared by property impairment (-$3.6m)and FX (-$2.9m) losses. This brought FY17 headline earnings to $33.3m (+18%). Quarterly revenue dropped 19% to $90.9m on weakness in energy-related engineering (-16%) and real estate solutions (-35%). Gross margin expanded 9.2 ppt to 36.9% on cost reduction. Final DPS was shaved to 1.5¢ (4QFY16: 2¢), dragging full-year payout to 2¢ (FY16:3¢). NAV/share at $0.617.

*Hiap Seng Engineering: Swung to 4QFY17 net loss of $1.8m (4QFY16: $1.9m profit), dragging FY17 earnings to $2.5m (-59%). Quarterly revenue slid 37% to $35m on lower project revenue. Gross margin shrank 3.3ppt to 8.1%. Final DPS of 0.5¢ brought FY17 payout 1¢, matching that of FY16. NAV/share at $0.205.

*Singhaiyi: 4QFY17 net profit surged 165% to $22.2m mainly due to a $30.5m disposal gain on its 20% stake in Perennial Somerset Investors. This helped to boost FY17 net profit to $31.1m (+6.1%). Quarterly revenue stood pat at $8.2m (+0.8%) as growth in property development (+7.4%) and management fees (+123.5%) were offset by a slide in rental income (-27.8%). Gross margin expanded 6.1ppts to 52.1% as it recognised more revenue from its property development arm in the US (+34.6%). Bottomline was further bolstered by a $5.9m tax credit (4QFY16: $0.4m expense). Declared first and final DPS of 0.3¢ (FY16: 0.2¢). NAV/share at $0.171.

*GuocoLand: Entered 75:25 JV agreement with Hong Leong Holdings China to fund the development project for GLL Chengdu. Based on GuocoLand’s 75% share, initial investment is expected to be Rmb2.84b, to be funded via equity and loans.

*CWG Int’l: Clarified a recent media article that it is currently still in discussions with potential buyers regarding a potential transaction on its residential building, The Peak at Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. The property had been reported to be on the market for A$55m.

*Imperium Crown: Raising net proceeds of $37.5m through the placement of 300m shares at $0.125/share (3.9% discount to last price) to four investors, to fund a stake in Global Entertainment Media to 69% from 27%, for a consideration of $53.5m. Global Entertainment Media has the rights to Wonder Stone Park in Shandong.

*Rowsley: Agreed to pay $8m to acquire AC Consortium, an industrial building design firm in Singapore, via the issuance of 115.7m new shares in two tranches to Mesdames Young and Tan, who will both stay on with the company post-acquisition.

*Sysma Holdings: Secured a $3.5m contract to reconstruct a two storey detached dwelling house with swimming pool at Bukit Tunggal Road, Singapore. The project is expected to commence in May '17 for 12 months.

*Singhaiyi: The effective date of its transfer from the Catalist board to the Mainboard will be 26 May.