Singapore shares fall as company earnings disappoint; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE – Disappointing corporate results from two index heavyweights prompted investors to send the local market down a notch on Feb 26.

The fallout left the Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.2 per cent or 7.82 points to 3,908.05, but on the broader market, gainers beat losers 330 to 236 after 1.5 billion securities worth $1.7 billion changed hands.

Investors were put on the back foot when OCBC Bank posted a fourth-quarter net profit of $1.69 billion, which missed a consensus estimate of $1.78 billion based on a Bloomberg analyst survey.

The stock fell 2.2 per cent to $17.21, although the lender had announced plans to return $2.5 billion of capital to shareholders over two years via special dividends and share buybacks.

Rival lenders DBS Bank and UOB ended the day in the black: DBS gained 0.3 per cent to $46.67, while UOB added 0.6 per cent to $38.44.

City Developments (CDL) was also in the doghouse after reporting a second-half earnings decline of 54.7 per cent to $113.5 million.

Earnings per share for the half-year stood at 12.1 cents, well short of a consensus estimate of 27 cents based on a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Trading in CDL shares was halted

on Feb 26 after its board disagreed on its composition and constitution.

Meanwhile, Seatrium was at the bottom of the STI table, shedding 3.9 per cent to $2.20, while Hongkong Land was the top gainer, up 2.7 per cent to US$4.63.

Regional markets were mostly in the black, despite a mixed session on Wall Street overnight, where the Nasdaq and S&P 500 slipped for a fourth consecutive session on economic fears and persistent tariff concerns.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3.3 per cent, the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.4 per cent and Malaysian shares added 1.3 per cent.

The losers’ column included Japan’s Nikkei 225, off 0.3 per cent, and Australia, where shares dipped 0.2 per cent after disappointing company results weighed on investor sentiment.

THE BUSINESS TIMES