Singapore stock watch: DBS, OCBC, UOB, ComfortDelGro, Yangzijiang, Perennial

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (April 17):

DBS, OCBC, UOB: Singapore's three local banks have a combined exposure of at least US$600 million ($853.6 million) to troubled oil trader Hin Leong Trading, sources familiar with the matter told The Business Times. On Thursday, DBS fell $0.12 or 0.6 per cent to $19.38, OCBC shed $0.03 or 0.3 per cent to $8.87, while UOB dropped $0.14 or 0.7 per cent to $20.14.

ComfortDelGro Corp, CapitaLand Mall Trust, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Sats, Singapore Airlines (SIA), Keppel Corp, Sembcorp Industries, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singtel: With some corporates slashing or cancelling dividends in recent weeks, investors now worry that some Straits Times Index constituents may follow suit amid the crushing impact from the pandemic.

Separately, Yangzijiang on Thursday night said its wholly-owned subsidiary will provide a revolving credit facility of up to 1.5 billion yuan ($301.7 million) to a company 41 per cent-owned by Yangzijiang's chairman and his son.

At Thursday's close, ComfortDelGro gained 0.7 per cent to $1.53, CapitaLand Mall Trust rose 1.1 per cent to $1.77, Mapletree Commercial Trust was up 1.1 per cent to $1.77, Sats increased by 1.7 per cent to $3.06, SIA fell 0.3 per cent to $6.15, Keppel advanced 2.2 per cent to $5.71, Sembcorp moved up 1.2 per cent to $1.63, Yangzijiang climbed 3 per cent to $1.03, while Singtel dropped 1.1 per cent to $2.77.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings: The developer is selling its entire 30 per cent stake in 111 Somerset, known locally as TripleOne Somerset, to gambling mogul Stanley Ho's Shun Tak Holdings for $155.1 million in cash. Perennial shares rose $0.03 or 7.3 per cent to close at $0.44 on Thursday, before the announcement.

BreadTalk Group: The food and beverage player's offeror has amassed acceptances representing about 97.77 per cent of the total number of shares as at 5pm on Thursday. The offeror will exercise its right to compulsorily acquire all the shares of dissenting shareholders under the same offer terms of 77 cents per share. The counter moved up by 0.5 cent or 0.7 per cent to finish at 77 cents on Thursday, before the announcement.

ARA US Hospitality Trust (ARA H-Trust): In response to the acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic, ARA H-Trust has turned to a slew of measures including the temporary closures of about two-thirds of its hotels, slashing its workforce and pay cuts for senior managers. The counter ended trading 1.5 US cents or 3.4 per cent higher at 46 cents on Thursday.

Soilbuild Business Space Reit (Soilbuild Reit): Its manager has excluded some capital distributions to conserve capital. In particular, it had decided to defer capital distributions relating to rental incentives and a rental guarantee provided by the vendors. Soilbuild Reit's distribution per unit fell 26.3 per cent to 0.883 cent for the first quarter. The counter fell 0.5 cent or 1.3 per cent to 37 cents on Thursday, before the results were released.

StarHub: The telco on Thursday night apologised "unreservedly" for the inconvenience caused by the intermittent disruption of its home broadband services to some of its customers on Wednesday, and is offering affected customers a one-time 20 per cent rebate on their monthly home broadband fee. StarHub shares declined by $0.02 or 1.4 per cent to end trading at $1.40 on Thursday.

AEM Holdings: The company on Thursday said it is continuing to operate worldwide without any material adverse impact from the Covid-19 measures implemented by various government agencies, and maintains its full-year sales guidance of $360 million to $380 million for fiscal 2020.

Japfa: The mainboard-listed agri-food company saw its share price jump more than 10 per cent on Thursday morning, after it proposed to sell a 25 per cent stake in its China dairy business to Japanese conglomerate Meiji for some US$254.4 million. The counter closed at $0.56 on Thursday, up $0.05 or 9.8 per cent.