Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Small, mid-cap play dominates flat market

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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Small, mid-cap play dominates flat market Aug 28th 2012, 04:26 Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:26am EDT Singapore shares were little changed, with small and mid-cap stocks such as Far East Hospitality Trust, which has hotels and serviced residences, and offshore services firm Ezra Holdings Ltd in play. The Straits Times Index was flat at 3,043.92 points, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4 percent, with investors waiting for a gathering of central bankers and economists later in the week. Far East units extended gains after making its trading debut in the previous day, rising as much as 2.1 percent to S$0.97 on Tuesday. Far East was the third-highest traded stock by value in the Singapore market. Ezra shares rose as much as 2.8 percent to S$1.09 with 6.2 million shares traded, 1.1 times the average full-day volume over the past 30 days. The stock has gained nearly 5 percent since the firm said it plans to list its engineering and fabrication division, TRIYARDS Holdings Pte Ltd, on the Singapore Exchange. Shares of Raffles Education Corp Ltd fell to an eight-year low after the Singapore education services provider announced a rights issue plan and a net loss of S$59.3 million ($47.4 million) for the financial year ended June. Raffles shares fell as much as 8.1 percent to S$0.34, the lowest since August 2004. Some 2.6 million shares changed hands, 2.8 times the average full-day volume over the past 30 days. 1213 (0413 GMT) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore; eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:52 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-OCBC upgrades VIZ Branz to 'buy' OCBC Investment Research upgraded instant coffee maker VIZ Branz to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised its target price to S$0.74 from S$0.69, on expectations of continued growth in China and improving margins. The company posted fourth-quarter net profit of S$3.3 million, more than double from a year ago, helped by cost savings. OCBC said VIZ Branz's 2012 sales in China rose 12 percent to S$93.6 million, helping to offset a 3.2 percent fall in Southeast Asia. By 0230 GMT, Viz Branz rose 0.7 percent to S$0.685, and have surged 107 percent since the start of the year, outperforming the FT ST Fledgling Index's 16 percent rise. Although a possible slowdown in domestic consumption in Asian markets could be a concern, OCBC said the relative affordability of VIZ Branz's products will help support sales. 1041 (0241 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:46 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-DMG starts Nam Cheong with 'buy'; target S$0.29 DMG & Partners Securities initiated coverage of Singapore-listed Malaysian offshore vessel builder Nam Cheong Ltd with a 'buy' rating and a target price of S$0.29. Nam Cheong shares rose as much as 2.5 percent to S$0.205 on Tuesday. The stock has surged around 58 percent so far this year, versus the 17 percent gain in the FT ST Small Cap Index . Nam Cheong is the dominant offshore support vessel builder in Malaysia with a market share of 75 percent last year, DMG said, adding it expects the company's net profit to double over the next two years on the back of strong vessel sales. The broker said Nam Cheong offers a short time to delivery because of its build-to-stock model and the company is set to benefit from the higher capital expenditure of Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company Petronas. Petronas has budgeted 300 billion ringgit ($96.5 billion) for capex over the next five years, an increase of 80 percent over the previous five, in response to its falling oil production, DMG said. "This provides a massive stimulus package to the entire Malaysian oil and gas industry." 1040 (0240 GMT) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore; eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com) *********************************************************** 10:12 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Raffles Education at 8-year low after rights issue plan Shares of Raffles Education Corp Ltd fell to an eight-year low after the Singapore education services provider announced a rights issue plan and a net loss of S$59.3 million ($47.4 million) for the financial year ended June. Raffles shares fell as much as 8.1 percent to S$0.34, the lowest since August 2004. More than 2 million shares changed hands, 2.2 times the average full-day volume over the past 30 days. "There is some concern about dilution because of the rights issue, and their main business seems to be facing a lot of difficulties," said a trader. Raffles said late on Monday it plans to issue up to 170.9 million rights shares at S$0.14 each, on the basis of one rights share for every five existing shares held by certain shareholders. The company also announced last week that it swung to a net loss of S$59.3 million for its 2012 fiscal year from a net profit of S$13.2 million a year earlier. Raffles expects its business in China to continue being affected by challenging operational conditions in the country. Its operations in Vietnam had also been suspended, the company said. 1004 (0204 GMT) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore; eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com) ($1 = 1.2517 Singapore dollars) ($1 = 3.1095 Malaysian ringgits) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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