Singapore Daily Bulletin – 28/12/12

Keppel O&M Inks Contracts Worth $420m
Keppel Offshore and Marine’s subsidiaries had bagged contracts totalling $420 million for shipbuilding and upgrading work. Keppel Singmarine, which builds specialised ships, secured two contracts. It will build a deepwater pipelay vessel for a McDermott International subsidiary called Hydro Marine Services and begin work in 1Q13. Keppel Singmarine will also construct a catamaran air dive support vessel for Australia-based Bhagwan Marine that will be deployed to the north west of Western Australia after it is completed in 1Q14. In addition, Keppel Shipyard has secured new contract from EMAS Offshore Construction and Production to modify and upgrade an existing Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility, Lewek Arunothai.

Significance: The latest three new contracts have boosted Keppel O&M’s total order wins for 2012 to $9.9 billion. Moving into 2013, Keppel O&M said it will be a busy year as it continues to focus on the quality execution of all its projects.

Nam Cheong Secures US$56.4m Sale Contracts; Order Book Hits RM1.5b
Nam Cheong’s subsidiary, Nam Cheong International had sold one Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) and two Anchor Handling Towing Supply (AHTS) vessels worth a total of US$56.4 million ($69 million). These new contracts bring the total number of vessels sold by Nam Cheong this year to a record 21, surpassing past year’s numbers to register an all-time high for annual vessel sales in its corporate history. The PSV and AHTS vessels are being constructed as part of the group’s build-to-stock series in one of Nam Cheong’s subcontracted yards in China. Each vessel is ABS class.

Significance: This latest slew of contract wins bring Nam Cheong’s order book to RM1.45 billion to date, and is expected to contribute positively to its earnings for FY12 and FY13.

Q & M Makes $22.7m Takeover Bid For Singapore Medical Group
Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) announced a $22.65 million takeover bid for Catalist-listed Singapore Medical Group (SMG) to expand into the medical specialist healthcare practice. Q & M is offering $0.1323 a share for SMG, which is a 41 percent premium over SMG’s last traded share price of 9.4 cents on 21 December. The dental group will purchase a 72.6 percent stake from two substantial shareholders, SMG chairman Felix Huang and chief executive officer Xiaoyan Baumann Geb Bi, for a total of $14 million. The proposed transaction triggers a mandatory general offer for the remaining shares of SMG at $0.1323 cents a share. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the proposed deal is expected to complete in 2Q13.

Significance: The move gives Q & M a good platform to springboard into the medical scene as it plans to set up a chain of general medical practices in the near future. SMG currently operates 15 medical clinics in Singapore with a patient database in excess of 80,000.