STOCK IN FOCUS

WHEELOCK PROPERTIES (S) LTD 
Net pro't reported by Wheelock Properties Ltd (Wheelock) slumped 31% YoY to S$62mil for 1HFY12. Results were in line with expectation meeting 49% of both consensus estimates and our FY12F forecast. The improvement over 1QFY12 was attributable to higher unit sales of Orchard View and rental income from Scotts Square retail. It was partially o'set by lower unit sales of Scotts Square.

Eight units of 30'unit Orchard View were sold during 2QFY12, sharply higher by 've units QoQ. Based on average selling price (ASP) of S$2,900 psf guided by Wheelock, prices were lowered by 5% for two consecutive quarters. Unlike other high'end developers, Wheelock had cut prices to move inventory, albeit by a small magnitude. Take' up rate for this project is almost fully sold at 90% with marketing on' going for the three remaining units.

Wheelock ends 2QFY12 with a net cash position of S$470mil or S$0.39/share. Our RNAV estimates remain unchanged at S$1.78/ share. With our fair value at parity to our RNAV estimates, we maintain our HOLD recommendation.


NEWS BUZZ

Noble Group (S$1.115) 
Pro't soars, beating expectations
Noble Group's 2Q net pro't rose 39% to US$194.8mil, supported by better'than' expected performance in its energy division which o'set the decline in revenue from its agriculture division. Overall revenue for the quarter ended June 30 rose 23% year'on'year to US$24.22bil. EPS stood at 3.06 US cents.

The company is expecting to receive about US$800mil over the next six months from the sale of its Brazil liquid bulk terminal and storage facility provider Terminal Maritimo do Maranhao, as well as the sale of its stake in Gloucester Coal to Yanzhou Coal Mining Company. This is in addition to the US$6.2bil it holds in readily available cash and unutilised committed bank facilities  ' a record for the group.

ComfortDelGro Corporation (S$1.655) 
Q2 pro't rises 8.5%
ComfortDelGro Corporation posted a net pro't of $65mil for the 2Q ended June 30, up 8.5% and group revenue rose 5% or $41.9mil, thanks largely to its taxi business as well as its bus business. While actual revenue increased by $44.7mil, negative foreign currency translation caused revenue to be $2.8mil lower. EPS worked out to 3.11 cents. As at June 30, the group had cash and short'term deposits of $579.7mil.

Aspial Corporation (S$0.37) 
Scraps bonus, increases dividend
Aspial Corporation is scrapping its proposed bonus share issue after amendmentsm to a rule relating to the issue of bonus shares means that it no longer meets the criteria. Instead, it will now increase the interim dividend declared for the 'rst half of 2012 from 0.5 cent per share to 0.75 cent per share. Under the new rule, an issuer is now required to satisfy to SGX that its daily weighted average price, adjusted for a bonus issue, will not be less than 50 cents. The rule was e'ective from Aug 10.

Tat Hong Holdings (S$1.04) 
Q1 pro't up threefold
Higher demand and better rates enabled crane giant Tat Hong Holdings to treble its 1Q net earnings to $16.7mil and revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2012, rose 36% to $215.3mil. Tat Hong had some $66mil in cash, gearing of 0.81, and shareholder equity totalling $571mil at end'June 2012. The company said it expected the rest of the year to be good, citing a generally positive operating environment in its key markets in Asia and Australia.
Source: The Business Times

Source: AmFraser