SINGAPORE - The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their shares on Wednesday (April 10):
Keppel Corp: Its unit Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Singmarine, will develop an autonomous tug that will be operated by Keppel Smit Towage. It is expected to be one of Singapore's first autonomous vessels when the project is completed in the fourth quarter of 2020. To develop the autonomous tug, Keppel O&M has secured a grant of up to $2 million from the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) under its Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund. It is also partnering M1 to leverage the telco's ultra-low latency 4.5G network connectivity to establish standards and data transfer links for the ship-to-shore communication, and support mission-critical Internet of Things maritime applications. Keppel Corp shares closed $0.07 up at $6.65 on Tuesday.
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH): SPH, which published The Straits Times, reported positive momentum across all its business segments - media, property, digital and aged care - even as it turned in a smaller profit for the second quarter. The group's net profit attributable to shareholders was down 25.7 per cent to $29.7 million for the three months ended Feb 28, compared with $39.9 million the year before. For the six months ended Feb 28, net profit attributable to shareholders was down 14.7 per cent to $85.6 million. SPH said this was due mainly to the lack of investment gains following the divestment of its treasury and investment portfolio last year. The proceeds are being recycled to its businesses to increase recurring income over time.
BreadTalk Group: It will acquire a total of 380 million shares in NPPG (Thailand) Public Company (NPPG), at 1.50 Thai baht per share. The transaction, via a subsidiary, will be completed in two tranches. In the first tranche, BreadTalk will purchase 285 million shares at 1.50 THB per share, equivalent to a 15 per cent stake in NPPG, before end-April. In the second tranche, it will purchase the remaining 95 million shares at 1.50 THB per share, equivalent to approximately 5 per cent of NPPG shareholding, before end-January 2020. BreadTalk shares closed down $0.005 at $0.855 on Wednesday.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust: It said on Wednesday that it received 832.3 million applications for its recently launched preferential offering, 1.8 times more than the total number of 455.31 million units available. The offering had closed on April 4, 2019, and each unit was priced at $0.441 apiece to raise around $200.8 million. Its units closed unchanged at $0.465 on Wednesday.
Silkroad Nickel: The Indonesian mining group on Tuesday said it has received environmental approval for the construction of a nickel smelter and supporting facilities at its mine site in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Central Sulawesi's Provincial Environmental Assessment Committee, which granted the approval, has also confirmed that the environmental feasibility requirements of the mining activities and construction of the smelter have been fulfilled, though this is subject to the Central Sulawesi's governor's decree on environmental feasibility and permits. Shares in Silkroad Nickel last traded unchanged at $0.36 on April 8.
