Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Macquarie prefers REITs to developers

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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Macquarie prefers REITs to developers Apr 24th 2012, 09:04 Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:04am EDT Macquarie Equities Research said it prefers Singapore real estate investment trusts (REITs), particularly those in the office and industrial sectors, to developers. For REITs, Macquarie expects capital returns of 21 percent, with distribution per unit growth of 1.3 percent and sector yield of 6.6 percent. It added that gearing remains comfortable at 35 percent. Its top picks include CapitaCommercial Trust and Mapletree Industrial Trust. Macquarie prefers developers with a higher gearing to China, where it is still anticipating policy loosening in the second quarter of 2012. Its top picks include CapitaLand Ltd and CapitaMalls Asia Ltd. Private home sales in Singapore hit a new record in the first quarter of 2012 despite government efforts to cool the market and analysts are concerned authorities may take new steps to dampen sentiment. The FT ST Real Estate index has risen 21 percent so far this year, outperforming the 12 percent gain in the broader Straits Times Index. But Macquarie downgraded Keppel Land Ltd to neutral from outperform and cut its rating on City Developments Ltd to underperform from neutral. 1659 (0859 GMT) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore; eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 12:26 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index edges up by midday Singapore shares inched higher by midday, snapping two straight days of losses, but gains were limited by concerns over political uncertainty and disappointing data in Europe. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.2 percent at 2,969.63 points. There were 231 gainers and 171 losers, with 138 stocks unchanged. "The market expected a poorer performance in U.S. equities last night, so this has caused some short covering today," said Ng Kian Teck, lead analyst at SIAS Research. Property companies were among the largest gainers on the benchmark index. Shopping centre developer CapitaMalls Asia rose 1.3 percent to S$1.56, while its parent CapitaLand climbed 1 percent to S$2.94. Ng said he expects the STI to consolidate in a narrow range with a downward bias due to uncertainties from Europe. "Europe has always been a time bomb and when bad news comes markets will see a big reaction. The impact from politics and elections can also be quite significant," said Ng. A Sunday vote in France opened up the presidential race and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tendered his government's resignation on Monday in a crisis over budget cuts, creating a political vacuum in one of the euro zone's most stable nations. For related story, click 1207 (0407 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 11:22 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-UOB ups Super Group target price UOB Kay Hian raised its share price target for instant beverage maker Super Group to S$2.24 from S$1.87 and maintained its buy rating, saying falling commodity prices could translate into higher margins. Super Group shares were flat at S$1.88 and have gained about 43 percent since the start of the year. The brokerage said it saw margins improving as prices of coffee and sugar have fallen more than 30 percent from their peak in the first half of 2011. UOB said Super Group was a proxy for Myanmar, as about 16 percent of last year's revenue came from the re-emerging Southeast Asian country of 54 million people, adding that growing consumerism indicated good long-term prospects. Super Group also offers a proxy to rising coffee consumption in Indonesia, the brokerage said, adding that its joint venture with Petra Foods gives it access to a strong distribution network across the country. "Other than a good potential in the branded consumer goods segment in Indonesia, we think that Super's ingredient sales division will also get a strong boost from its joint venture, which has raised its visibility," UOB said. 1030 (0230 GMT) (Reporting by Mark Tay in Singapore; mark.tay@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:58 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-OCBC Investment raises United Envirotech target OCBC Investment Research raised its share price target for United Envirotech Ltd UNIT.SI to S$0.52 from S$0.50 and maintained its buy rating on the Singapore-listed Chinese wastewater treatment firm. Shares of United Envirotech were flat at S$0.355 and have gained around 9 percent so far this year. The broker revised upwards United Envirotech's revenue and earnings estimates for the year ending in March 2014 by 2 percent and 3 percent respectively after the company won a 70 million yuan ($11.1 million) project to run a wastewater treatment plant in China's Heilongjiang province. The plant is expected to operate at full capacity from July, OCBC said. United Envirotech also won a 216 million yuan project to build a 100,000 cubic metre per day drinking water plant in China's Shandong province. But the company expects to see revenue from the project only by the end of fiscal 2013. For related story click link.reuters.com/xes77s 1038 (0238 GMT) Reporting by Leonard How in Singapore; leonard.how@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:31 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE- OCBC starts COSCO at hold OCBC Investment Research initiated coverage of Singapore-listed Chinese shipbuilder COSCO Corp (Singapore) Ltd with a hold rating and a target price of S$0.98, citing weakness in the shipping industry. COSCO shares were 1.4 percent higher at S$1.07, and have surged 22.3 percent since the start of the year. OCBC said the operating environment for the dry bulk shipping and shipbuilding segments remains difficult due to an oversupply of vessels and fewer orders for shipbuilders. COSCO has ventured into offshore engineering, and its lack of experience in building rigs, jack-ups and drillships means it may take some time before productivity improvements are seen, OCBC said. 1007 (0207 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 09:44 CIMB ups Frasers Centrepoint target price CIMB Research raised its target price for Frasers Centrepoint Trust, which owns shopping malls, to S$1.75 from S$1.65 and kept its outperform rating. Units of Frasers Centrepoint were 0.3 percent lower at S$1.555, and have gained 8 percent since the start of the year. Frasers Centrepoint on Monday said its distribution per unit for the second quarter rose 20.8 percent to a record high of 2.50 Singapore cents from a year ago, boosted by higher revenue and net property income. The broker increased its distribution per unit estimates for Frasers Centrepoint to reflect stronger rentals and margins, and positive management guidance on second half earnings. A favourable retail outlook and results from upgrading its Singapore mall Causeway Point will also help Frasers Centrepoint, CIMB said. For related story click link.reuters.com/qes77s 0913 (0113 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 8:41 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index futures slightly higher Singapore index futures were up 0.03 percent, indicating a weak start for the benchmark Straits Times Index . Asian shares fell on Tuesday as political uncertainty and disappointing data in Europe raised fears the euro zone could struggle to push through austerity measures and may stay in recession until late in the year. 0839 (0039 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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