Singapore stock watch: SIA, Sheng Siong, Hi-P, IndoAgri, Creative, MindChamps, iFast

SINGAPORE - The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their shares on Thursday (Oct 31):

Singapore Airlines (SIA): The national flag carriers of Singapore and Malaysia have proposed a new wide-ranging partnership, subject to regulatory approvals from the competition authorities. SIA and Malaysia Airlines are looking to share revenue on flights between the two countries, expand their codeshare routes, and participate in joint marketing activities to develop tourism, under an agreement inked on Wednesday. SIA shares closed up four cents, or 0.44 per cent, at $9.24 on Wednesday, following the announcement.

Sheng Siong Group: Driven by the contribution from new stores, revenue of the supermarket chain rose 11.4 per cent to $253.8 million. Together with improved gross profit margin, the higher top line lifted net profit by 16.4 per cent to $20.6 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 1.37 cents, 15.1 per cent higher than the 1.19 cents for the corresponding period a year ago. The company's shares ended 0.87 per cent or one cent down at $1.14 on Wednesday, before the financial results were released.

Hi-P: Mainboard-listed contract manufacturer Hi-P posted a 2.7 per cent drop in net profit of $32.9 million for the third quarter, as a result of compressed gross profit margin and higher administrative, selling and distribution expenses. The company also guided for a lower revenue and profit for the fourth quarter and the whole year. EPS dropped to 4.10 cents from 4.19 cents for the year-ago period. The counter ended two cents or 1.41 per cent lower at $1.40 on Wednesday, before the financial results were issued.

Indofood Agri Resources (IndoAgri): IndoAgri has reversed into the red with a net loss of 125.68 billion rupiah ($12.2 million) for the third quarter ended Sept 30, compared with a net profit of $8.74 billion a year ago, as the firm continued to be adversely affected by weak commodity prices. Loss per share (LPS) stood at 90 rupiah for the quarter, from EPS of 6.3 rupiah a year ago. IndoAgri shares last traded flat at 31.5 cents on Tuesday.

Creative Technology: Mainboard-listed Creative has posted a first-quarter loss of US$5.7 million for the period ended Sept 30, 7 per cent lower than the US$6.1 million red ink for the corresponding period a year ago. But revenue is expected to be higher for the holiday season in the second quarter of FY2020, with improvement also expected in the operating results, said Creative on Wednesday. LPS was US$0.08 for the quarter, marginally better than the US$0.09 LPS for the corresponding period last year. The counter ended 11 cents or 3.29 per cent lower at $3.23 on Wednesday, before the financial results were released.

MindChamps PreSchool: MindChamps has opened a A$7 million (S$6.6 million), 94-place flagship centre in Australia which caters to children aged six weeks to six years, the mainboard-listed company said in a bourse filing on Wednesday night. MindChamps previously said it will focus on Australia with an aim to have 100 centres operating within three years in a nationwide network across all capital cities. The counter closed up 2.9 per cent, or 1.5 cents to 53.5 cents on Wednesday before this announcement.

iFast Corporation: Digital bank hopeful iFast Corp posted a 5.5 per cent drop in net profit to $2.5 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from $2.6 million a year ago. EPS stood at 0.92 cent for the quarter, down 6 per cent from 0.98 cent a year ago. Shares of iFast closed at $1.01 on Wednesday, up one cent or 1 per cent, before the results were announced.

Bonvests Holdings: Bonvests announced that the group may record a loss for the nine months ended Sept 30, mainly due to higher depreciation, startup costs of a new hotel, higher finance costs and absence of fair value gain on investment properties. The counter ended three cents or 2.61 per cent higher at $1.18 on Wednesday, before the guidance was issued.