DBSV Research issues an Equity Explorer report on Parkson Retail Asia (PRA) with fair value of S$1.55. PRA is a leading department store operator in Southeast Asia, and is a beneficiary of Southeast Asia's rising consumption growth. The group is usually an early entrant in the markets it operates in. It is the largest departmental store operator in Malaysia and second largest operator in Vietnam since its entry there in 2005. Its first store in Myanmar is expected to be operational by March 2013. Our analyst projects 15% earnings growth in FY13F largely driven by both store expansion and same store sales growth. This is on the back of a growing middle class and a better consumption appetite in Asean countries. PRA currently trades at 19x FY13F PE, just under its average PE of c.20x. We believe the counter has priced in potential earnings upside surprise from its new markets. Upside price catalysts could come from a better-than-expected operational performance from its stores, resulting in a higher growth rate.

Mr Lim Ming Yan will take the reins of CapitaLand Group as its president and chief executive officer from Jan 1. Mr Lim, who will also be appointed as a director of CapitaLand, will take over from Mr Liew Mun Leong, who announced his plans to retire in June next year. Mr Lim is currently CapitaLand's chief operating officer, a position he has held since May 6 last year. He is also the deputy chairman of CapitaLand China Executive Committee. The appointment of Mr Lim is within expectation and given his familiarity and long time experience in various roles within the group, we expect the transition to be smooth. Going forward, we believe the group is likely to remain focused on its pan Asian footprint with core markets including Singapore and China.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust is buying shopping mall assets in two Indonesian cities that would cost a total of about S$188m. In Palembang, capital of South Sumatra province, Lippo Malls will buy 389 units at Palembang Square for S$59.9m and the Palembang Square Extension for S$28.4m. In Jakarta, the trust will buy 37 units in Tamini Square for S$23.1m and the Kramat Jati Indah Plaza for S$69.3m. In addition to these purchase prices, Lippo Malls expects further fees and expenses to bring the total acquisition cost to S$188m.

Marine fuel supplier Chemoil Energy, now controlled by Swiss commodity giant Glencore, is selling off its Helios Terminal on Jurong Island for US$285m to Germany's Oiltanking, which also operates oil storage in Singapore's oil hub. This raised the Swiss group's interest in Chemoil from 51.54% to a controlling 89.04%. Chemoil will realise an estimated net gain of around $152.3m from the proposed sale. It intends to use part of the sale proceeds for its expanding fuel supply business and to make investments.

DynaMac is placing up to 139.5m shares (93m new and 46.5m vendor shares) at S$0.50 per share. The placement price is at a discount of 7.5% to last weighted average price. The net proceeds of about S$45.7m will be used for working capital purposes.

Dragon Group is placing 30m new shares at S$0.10 per share. The placement price represents a premium of 5.9% over the weighted average price. The placement will allow the group to raise gross proceeds of approximately S$3m, which will be used as working capital to fund the growth and expansion of the group's business.

Singapore may have been spared a technical recession. PM Lee alludes to the economy having grown in Q2 instead of having contracted - the initial estimate was -0.7% q-o-q on a seasonally adjusted, annualised basis. This means that even if the GDP flash estimates for the third quarter, to be released on Friday, are in negative territory, Singapore would still not be in technical recession. Separately, the MAS is widely expected to ease monetary policy slightly this Friday as growth looks set to weaken further.

Resale prices for industrial space continued to rise in the third quarter, while industrial rents held firm, according to a report from consultancy DTZ. Resale industrial prices for first-storey conventional industrial space rose 4% in Q3, to $600 psf, compared with the previous quarter. For upper-storey industrial space, prices grew 3.5% to $445 psf from the previous quarter, slowing from 4.9% growth in Q2. Rents for first-storey conventional industrial space were at an average of $2.15 psf per month, while upper-storey rentals averaged $1.75 psf per month, the same levels as Q2.

US markets fell as oil price rebounded on the back of Middle East uncertainties between Turkey and Syria even as the IMF lowered global growth forecast. Investors also headed to the sidelines ahead of the start of the 3Q reporting season. In after hours, Alcoa, the first Dow component company to report earnings, announced better-than-expected results. Still, it's early into the results season. A few more bellwether would have to release results before some sort of 3Q earnings trend can be established. For the STI, 3088 becomes the near-term resistance in this period, near-term support is at 3035.

Source: DBSV