singapore penny stocks back in investors crosshairs 1626302015

Singapore’s Straits Times Index ended slightly lower for the second successive session on Tuesday, though it managed to stay above the 3,000 level for the fourth straight day. Investors apparently elected to keep a low profile given the slew of corporate earnings reports due out soon.

However, trading action was marked by speculators’ apparently newfound love for penny stocks, showing up in a very high number of shares traded during the day, though aggregate value traded was nothing impressive.

Indices and sectors

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 5.47 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 3,019.03, taking the year-to-date performance to -10.29 per cent.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.06 per cent, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.04 per cent.

The Singapore Exchange traded a volume of 2,522.5 million shares valued at SG$934.9 million. Gainers outnumbered losers by 218/211.

The top gaining FTSE ST sectors included consumer goods (+3.23%), basic materials (+2.87%), China (+1.21%), China Top Index (+1.20%) and utilities (+1.13%). Losing sectors included oil and gas (-1.04%), real estate holding and development (-0.88%) and financials (-0.55%).

Stocks

Loyz Energy Ltd (SGX:594) shot up 21.60 per cent to SG$0.091 and topped the volume charts, trading over 188 million shares. China-based property developer Debao Property Development Ltd. (SGX:K2M) surged 22.73 per cent to SG$0.054 on high volumes of nearly 130 million shares. Industrial waste gas treatment company China Environment Ltd (SGX:5OU) vaulted 18.89 per cent to SG$0.107 on volume of nearly 110 million shares. MMP Resources Ltd (SGX:F3V) was up 13 per cent to SG$0.026 on volume of nearly 105 million shares. Nightclub operator LifeBrandz Ltd (SGX:L20) zoomed 50 per cent to SG$0.006 trading nearly 11 million shares. SinoCloud Group Ltd (SGX:5EK) was up 50 per cent to SG$0.003 with about 28 million shares changing hands.

In response to a query from the SGX, Loyz said it was not considering acquisitions or similar other transactions.

Triyards Holdings Ltd (SGX:RC5) was up 1.25 per cent at SG$0.405. Net profit during the fourth quarter ended August 31 shot up 59 per cent to US$8.4 million (SG$11.6 million) while revenue surged 81 per cent to US$88.4 million. Full-year earnings jumped 2 per cent to US$27.2 million. According to the company the fourth quarter performance received a lift from the construction of four liftboats at its SM Group unit. “With a healthy balance sheet, coupled with our year to date achievement in SG$600m order wins provides us earnings visibility into FY17,” said CEO Chan Eng Yew, according to SeaTrade Maritime.

EMAS Offshore Ltd (SGX:UQ4) dipped 6.82 per cent to SG$0.205. During the fourth quarter ended August 31 the company’s net profit surged 181 per cent to US$36.3 million (SG$50.4 million) compared to the prior year period, though revenue was down 19 per cent to US$54.3 million. The company attributed the decline in revenue to weakness in both the shallow water platform support vessels and anchor handling, towing and supply vessels segments. However, the company boosted other income through sale of vessels and lease back transactions aggregating US$32.8 million, the Straits Times said. “As global concerns continue to affect the oil and gas services providers, we expect the near term pressure to continue,” said Adarash Kumar, CEO. “The group is likely to experience an intense price competition on its charter rates and a tapered rate for its vessel utilisation. This will inevitably have an impact on the group’s operating and financialperformance.”

Sunmoon Food Co Ltd (SGX:AAJ) will pay nTan Corporate Advisory in instalments an amount of SG$2.1 million plus GST as full and final settlement of services provided by the latter around 2007 for "identifying and securing investors" when Sun Moon was in financial distress. According to Straits Times, nTan had sued the company in April 2015 for SG$2.06 million being allegedly unpaid fees.

Keppel Telecom. & Transport. Ltd. (SGX:K11) gained 0.71 per cent to SG$1.41. The company’s net profit during the third quarter ended September 30 fell 17.1 per cent year-on-year to SG$15.3 million on the back of the absence of contributions from two data centres. Revenue was, therefore, down 5.1 per cent to SG$50.9 million, according to the Straits Times.

Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) was up nearly 2 per cent to SG$0.515. According to OCBC Investment Research analyst Carey Wong, the recent upbeat performance of the stock could be attributed to steps taken by the management to get the company back on the rails after the Iceberg controversy: "In the past few months, we've seen the company taking pains to change its corporate governance practices and the make-up of the board, while renewing its business focus on more profitable areas."

Economic news

On Wall Street Tuesday, stocks finished lower following mixed earnings, with the Nasdaq ruling weak due to steep declines in biotech shares and Tesla Motors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 13.43 points (0.08 per cent) to 17,217.11, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.89 points (0.14 per cent) to 2,030.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 24.50 points (0.50 per cent) to 4,880.97.