Singapore Daily Bulletin – 23/01/13

SGX’s 2Q13 Profit Jumps 16.7% To $76.3m
The Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) earnings for the second-quarter ended 31 December 2012 rose 16.7 percent to $76.3 million lifted by broad-based growth in both securities and derivatives. Over the October to December period, the securities market performed well with its daily traded value increased 8 percent year-on-year to hit a trading value of $1.2 billion. Meanwhile, derivatives daily average volume jumped 30 percent to hit a record of 358,532 contracts, supported by rising trading interests in China A50 futures and Japan Nikkei 225 options. The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of 4 Singapore cents per share, payable on 6 February 2013.

Significance: Phillip Securities Research is of the view that SGX is very well placed to benefit from the increasing attractiveness of the equity market. Nonetheless, CIMB Research thinks SGX still has a rather pertinent problem of trying to increase the security turnover velocity and value by retail initiatives, attracting listings and so forth.

Suntec REIT’s 4Q12 DPU Falls 6.2% To 2.326 cents
Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Suntec REIT) has reported a 6.2 percent drop in distribution per unit (DPU) to 2.326 Singapore cents for 4Q12. Income available for distribution fell 5.3 percent to $52.4 million due mainly to the closure of Suntec Singapore and Suntec City Mall (Phase 1) for the asset enhancement works and the divestment of CHIJMES. For the full year, DPU fell 4.5 percent to 9.49 Singapore cents, while distributable income fell 3.5 percent to $213.1 million. As at 31 December 2012, Suntec REIT’s overall committed occupancy for the retail portfolio and office portfolio stood at 98.1 percent and 99.7 percent respectively.

Significance: Suntec City Mall’s Phase 1, which will commence operations at the end of 2Q13, has been approximately 83 percent pre-committed. Meanwhile, the REIT is also about to embark on Phase 2 of the asset enhancement initiatives in March 2013 with 37 percent of Phase 2 NLA (net lettable area) has been pre-committed.

Keppel T&T’s 4Q12 Bottomline Slides 30.2% To $55.5m
Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation’s (Keppel T&T) earnings fell 30.2 percent to $55.5 million for the full year ended 31 December 2012. Revenue on the other hand rose 16.4 percent to $137.5 million, driven mainly by higher occupancy of its data centres and warehouses, which increased the revenue from both its Data Centre and Logistics divisions. Meanwhile, the company proposed a first and final dividend of 3.5 Singapore cents per share, the same as the previous year, to be paid on 7 May 2013.

Significance: Looking ahead, Keppel T&T will continue to focus on maintaining high occupancy rates for its logistics facilities in South East Asia and China. It will also execute major expansion projects, such as Wuhu Sanshan Port, Jilin Food Logistics Park and Lu’an Logistics Park, in China.