Singapore Stocks May Rise, Paced by Venture, Datacraft, Omni
By Christina Soon and Chan Sue Ling
Singapore, March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore stocks may rise, led by Venture Manufacturing Ltd. on optimism an increase in U.S. consumer confidence will help boost demand for Singapore goods.
Gains, however, may be muted. Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., which is selling $500 million of convertible bonds to fund equipment for a new factory, and ST Assembly Test Services Ltd. may track losses in their American depositary receipts.
Yesterday, the Straits Times Index fell 38.80, or 2.3 percent, to 1679.39. Of the 52 stocks in the index, 41 fell, five rose and six were unchanged.
Shares of the following companies may be active on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The stock symbol follows the company name. Tuesday's closing prices are included.
Some computer-related stocks may rise, tracking the Nasdaq's 2.8 percent gain. Consumer confidence in U.S. unexpectedly rose in March for the first time in six months.
Venture Manufacturing Ltd. (VMS SP ), the city- state's largest electronics manufacturer by market value, fell 50 cents, or 3.7 percent, to S$13.00. Datacraft Asia Ltd. (DAT SP) [OTC BB:DKKBF], a networking company, fell 25 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $5.10. Omni Industries Ltd. (OMNI SP ), Singapore's second- largest contract electronics manufacturer, lost 12 cents, or 4.1 percent, to S$2.83. PCI Ltd. (PCI SP ), a maker of liquid crystal display modules for cell phones, fell 5 cents, or 5.2 percent, to 92 Singapore cents. GES International Ltd. (GES SP ), a distributor and manufacturer of electronics, lost 5.5 cents, or 6.6 percent, to 77.5 Singapore cents.
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (CSM SP ), the world's No. 3 maker of chips to companies' design, may fall after its American depositary receipts shed 6.9 percent. Separately, the company sold $500 million of bonds convertible into stock, said Merrill Lynch & Co., the underwriter of the sale, after increasing the sale by 43 percent due to strong demand. The stock yesterday fell 45 cents, or 8.4 percent, to S$4.90.
ST Assembly Test Services Ltd. (STAT SP ), the second- biggest Asian chip-tester, may decline after its American depositary receipts lost 0.6 percent. The stock lost 5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to S$1.80.
ECS Holdings Ltd. (ECS SP ), the distribution arm of Solectron Corp., said its profit for the year ended December 2000 more than doubled to S$11 million ($6.2 million) on higher sales of information technology products and services in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Sales rose 63 percent to S$434 million. The company said in a statement to the Singapore exchange that it expects its profitability to improve this year. The stock rose 5.5 cents, or 11 percent, to 53.5 Singapore cents.
G.K. Goh Holdings Ltd. (GKG SP ), a publicly traded Singapore brokerage, said it plans to set up an $88 million financial services company along with Singapore Technologies Pte., a state-owned, diversified company. G.K. Goh will invest $35 million while Singapore Technologies will invest $48 million in Nexgen Financial Holdings Ltd., which will be incorporated in Ireland, G.K. Goh said in a statement to the exchange. The remaining $5 million will come from Nexgen's managers. G.K. Goh was unchanged at 67 Singapore cents.
Horizon.com Ltd. (HZCM SP ), an Internet education provider, said profit for 2000 fell 8.9 percent to S$2.1 million ($1.2 million), or 3.64 cents a share, from the previous year. The company expects to remain profitable for the current year. The stock gained 3 cents, or 3.5 percent, to 89 Singapore cents.
Hotung Investment Holdings Ltd. ( HIH SP ), a Taiwanese venture capital company, said profit for 2000 rose 13 percent to NT$904.8 million ($27.7 million), or 0.71 cents a share, from a year ago. For 2001, the company said it would be difficult to maintain last year's profit levels. The stock lost half a cent, or 2.9 percent, to 16.5 U.S. cents.
Jurong Cement Ltd. (JURC SP ), one of Singapore's biggest cement makers, expects further deterioration in the second half of 2001, hurt by falling cement prices as a result of lower demand. The company also said the stronger U.S. dollar increased its purchase price of materials. The stock rose 5 cents, or 3.9 percent, to S$1.35 Monday.
Lum Chang Holdings Ltd. (LCH SP ), a Singapore-based construction and real estate company, may be active. Lum Chang Securities's insurance broking and financial planning unit, First Independent, may be bought out by management, the Straits Times reported, citing unidentified people. Vickers Ballas Holdings Ltd., Singapore's biggest brokerage by market value, said it plans to buy the securities arm of Lum Chang Holdings for S$29 million ($16 million) earlier this month. Lum Chang Holdings rose 0.5 cents, or 1.6 percent, to 31.5 Singapore cents.
Poh Lian Holdings Ltd. (POH SP ), a Singapore building contractor, said it's in talks for at least two projects worth about S$50 million ($28 million) each. ``We are actually negotiating for a few big projects,'' said Simon Koo, Poh Lian's executive director. ``We expect to get at least one to two projects every year. Unfortunately, the market is so competitive, margins are being squeezed.'' Meanwhile, Poh Lian, in the process of being taken over by private investment company Tektronix Industries Ltd. and diversifying into the pulp business, will probably complete about half its construction orders on hand this year, analysts said. Poh Lian lost 1 cent, or 4.3 percent, to 22.5 Singapore cents.
Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX SP ), the island's stock and futures market, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS SP ) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC SP ) said they'll form a joint venture providing back office processing for brokerages. The exchange and the brokerage arms of the Singapore banks will invest a total of between S$10 million ($5.6 million) and S$15 million in the venture, which should be profitable in three years.
Singapore Exchange fell 6 cents, or 5.2 percent, to S$1.09. DBS, Southeast Asia's largest lender by assets, fell 10 cents, or 0.6 percent, to S$16.40. OCBC, Singapore's third-largest bank by assets, rose 20 cents, or 1.8 percent, to S$11.40.
Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. (STE SP ), a defense equipment company, may be active. Its unit, Singapore Engineering Software Pte, won a $56 million contract to supply equipment to the Hong Kong Fire Services Department. The stock rose 2 cents, or 0.8 percent, to S$2.66.
Tan Chong International Ltd. (TCI SP ), Singapore's largest car distributor, said 2000 profit more than doubled to HK$487 million ($62 million), or 24.2 cents a share, from the same period a year ago. That's better than the HK$264.7 million average forecast of five analysts polled by Bloomberg News. Tan Chong fell 1 cent, or 1 percent, to HK$1.02.
United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB SP ), Singapore's second-largest bank by assets, said it has entered into an agreement to sell its 50 percent stake in Dahua Xiamen Development Ltd. to a subsidiary of United Overseas Land Ltd. (UOL SP ), UOB's property arm. The stock lost 10 cents, or 0.8 percent, to S$12.10.
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