Stocks to watch: DBS, Singtel, ThaiBev, SATS, Far East Hospitality Trust

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday:

DBS: Singapore's largest lender is seeing encouraging signs on overall asset quality in 2021 as moratoriums gradually taper off, with extensions on debt holidays contained and delinquencies kept low. DBS kicked off the banks' fourth-quarter results season on Wednesday, reporting a net profit of S$1.01 billion for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, down 33 per cent from a year ago, due to lower net interest margin and higher allowances.

Separately, DBS noted that its recent takeover of India's Lakshmi Vilas Bank is expected to turn a profit in the next 12 to 24 months. Shares of DBS closed seven Singapore cents or 0.3 per cent higher to finish at S$26 on Wednesday.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel): For its third quarter ended Dec 31, Singtel posted an operating revenue of S$4.24 billion, down 3.2 per cent year on year, it announced in a business update on Wednesday. The telco also said it will hire and train 500 professionals in Singapore over the next two years in the lead-up to the 5G rollout.

Separately, Singtel on Thursday said unidentified hackers illegally attacked a third-party standalone system it uses to share information internally and with external stakeholders. It said customer information may have been compromised, but noted that this is an isolated incident and its core operations remain unaffected. Singtel shares finished at S$2.40 on Wednesday, down S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent.

Thai Beverage (ThaiBev): The beverage company on Thursday announced a net profit of 8.47 billion baht (S$376 million) for its first quarter ended Dec 31, up 0.5 per cent from 8.42 billion baht in the year-ago period. ThaiBev shares ended at 80.5 Singapore cents on Wednesday, down two cents or 2.4 per cent.

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SATS: Net loss for the ground handler and caterer amounted to S$2.8 million for the third quarter, compared with a profit of S$59.3 million a year ago. However, the mainboard-listed firm managed to narrow the net loss from S$33.2 million in the prior quarter. Its freight associates returned to profitability in the third quarter to December and cargo revenue grew quarter on quarter. The counter declined S$0.03 or 0.7 per cent to S$4.09 when the market closed on Wednesday, before its business update.

Far East Hospitality Trust (FEHT): The group's distribution per stapled security fell 30.7 per cent to 1.38 Singapore cents for the half year ended Dec 31, compared to a year ago, while gross revenue declined 34.8 per cent to S$39 million due to rental rebates and waivers granted to tenants during Covid-19, its manager said on Thursday. Stapled securities of FEHT closed one Singapore cent or 1.7 per cent lower at 57.5 cents on Wednesday.

Tiong Seng: The construction group and property developer has announced that its FY2020 results are expected to be in a loss position, widening the amount reported for the half year ended June 2020. This comes as business performance was adversely impacted by the pandemic, it said. Tiong Seng shares closed at 15 Singapore cents on Wednesday, up 0.5 cent or 3.5 per cent, before its profit guidance.

The Singapore bourse is open for half-day trading till noon on Thursday ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.