Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Shares reverse earlier gains, Wilmar drags

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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Shares reverse earlier gains, Wilmar drags Jul 27th 2012, 04:40 Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:40am EDT Singapore's main index fell by midday, reversing earlier gains, dragged by heavy losses in palm oil firm Wilmar International's shares, which tumbled to over a three-year low. Wilmar tumbled as much as 6.4 percent to S$3.21, its lowest level since April 2009, on market talk China has told edible oil suppliers to keep prices stable. Wilmar is the worst performing stock on the Straits Times Index (STI) this year, falling 35.6 percent since the start of 2012. Wilmar said in an email that there was no control on cooking oil prices in China, but "the government has advised that companies should avoid increasing prices unless it is absolutely necessary." Over the last 60 days, analysts have cut EBITDA estimates for Wilmar this year by an average of 2 percent and earnings per share estimates by 4.7 percent, Thomson Reuters' StarMine data showed. The benchmark STI was down 0.2 percent at 2,999.62 points, reversing from an intraday high of 3,029.53 and underperforming its regional peers. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan was up 1.8 percent, after comments from the European Central Bank President signalled its resolve to defend the euro zone. 1229 (0429 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:48 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-OCBC raises Osim target price OCBC Investment Research raised its target price for massage chair maker Osim International Ltd to S$1.82 from S$1.61 and kept its 'buy' rating, citing strong growth and better-than-expected margins. By 0234 GMT, shares of Osim were 3.4 percent higher at S$1.225, and have gained about 6 percent so far this year, outperforming the FT ST Consumer Goods Index's 17 percent loss. Osim's second quarter net profit rose 20.1 percent to S$22.5 million, higher than OCBC's estimates, due to better-than-expected margins backed by favourable product mix and better productivity, the brokerage said. It raised its 2012 and 2013 net profit estimates by 3.6 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. "While we acknowledge that concerns over the slowing Chinese economy remain entrenched, Osim has executed well on driving its productivity gains and expanding its margins to mitigate this," OCBC said in a report. 0950 (0150 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:03 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-CIMB, OCBC raise CapitaMalls target price CIMB Research raised its target price for CapitaMalls Asia Ltd to S$1.47 from S$1.42, citing higher valuations for its listed entities such as CapitaRetail China Trust , but the brokerage kept its 'underperform' rating. By 0142 GMT, shares of CapitaMalls were 0.6 percent higher at S$1.62, and have surged 43.4 percent since the start of the year, compared to the Straits Times Index's 14 percent rise. CapitaMalls reported a 40.7 percent rise in its second quarter net profit to S$232 million, driven mainly by revaluation gains of its Singapore and Malaysia shopping malls, said CIMB. CapitaMalls management noted that its tenants in China are seeing some slowdown in sales on a year-on-year basis and growth in tier-1 cities is normalizing at a faster pace, CIMB said. OCBC Investment Research also raised the target price for CapitaMalls to S$1.85 from S$1.79, and kept its 'buy' rating, as it expects retail conditions in China to remain healthy and noted that the company's valuations remain undemanding. To read a statement, click 0950 (0150 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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