Singapore's population white paper will be released today. According to a Business Times article published today titled "How quest for growth led to housing and transport crunch", it talked about the current strain on our infrastructure and Singapore's Prime Minister saying that the government could have done more in providing more buffer in its infrastructure spending.

The need to bring public infrastructure up to speed not just to catch up with Singapore's population increase in recent years but also to prepare ahead for future population growth benefits the construction sector. It could be a case of "build more & build faster" going forward. We prefer construction companies that are more exposed to building materials and public sector projects while for contractors, we look at only those that can better control their cost. Our current coverage are Tat Hong, Sin Heng, Tiong Seng & Pan United. Other construction companies are UE E&C, Engro Corp & Lian Beng.

3Q12 results for Ascendas Hospitality Trust in line. Outlook remain mixed; Australian operations remain under pressure while China hotels is the near term earnings driver. Downgrade to HOLD, given limited upside to our TP objective of S$1.03 (Prev S$ 0.98). Upside surprise is likely to hinge on acquisitions that we have not factored in. Stock offers yields of 7.3-7.6%.

Cosco has secured contracts to construct two Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) worth US$54m in total. We understand from newswire that the customer is Vroon, a repeat customer. Delivery is expected in 1Q15. Additionally, Vroon has an option for two similar PSV at the same contract value, to be exercised within six months. Our analyst has factored in US$2.5bn new order wins this year. Maintain Fully Valued, TP: S$0.80.

Argentina has suspended Noble Group from a key grain registry for alleged tax evasion. Noble was suspended from the list in a resolution published in the government's official bulletin Monday. Exclusion from the registry means the income tax withheld on domestic grain trading rises to 15% from 2%, as well as the withholding of a 10.5% sales tax. Companies not on the registry also face new, burdensome approval requirements for domestic shipping permits.

Global Logistic Properties has signed approximately 29,000 sqm of new leases in Greater Tokyo and Osaka with a major third party logistics provider. Following these agreements, the lease ratio at GLP Kawasaki, GLP Kadoma and GLP Osaka II stands at over 99%.

STATS ChipPAC now expects net revenues for the fourth quarter 2012 to be approximately $480m, at the higher end of its previous estimates, and an increase of about 18% compared to the prior quarter due to strong demand in advanced packaging and test services for high end smartphones and tablets. EBITDA is about 21% of revenue while capital expenditure is expected to be approximately $55m in 4Q12.

Boustead Singaporehas been awarded a contract by HSBC Institutional Trust Services as trustee of AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT to design and build a new facility for a redevelopment of an industrial property in Singapore. The latest contract has raised the Group's order book backlog to S$352m.

Ipco Internationalis placing 350m new shares at an issue price of S$0.0198 for each Placement Share to raise approximately S$6.9m. The Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 10% to the last volume weighted average price. The net proceeds will be used for working capital and short term investment purposes.

China Essence Groupexpects to register a net loss for 3QFY13, attributable to lower selling prices for potato starch due to a supply glut for potato. In addition, the severe weather in the Northeast of China has also affected the Group's potato stock.

Moya Asia expects to be in a loss position for 4Q12 mainly as a result of an unexpected increase in project costs, which was due to design changes in relation to the Cambodia projects.

Tianjin Zhong Xin Pharmaceutical Group is expected to report about 70% to 90% y-o-y rise in net profit for FY2012 due to gain on disposal of subsidiary, increase in the return on investment and increase in operating profits from the Group's main business.

The electronics sector committed $6.2bn in fixed-asset investments last year, according to the Economic Development Board (EDB). This was lower than the $7.4bn secured in 2011 and made up 39% of total investments secured in 2012. The electronics cluster has not been doing well on the production front. Its monthly output contracted for a 21st month in a row in December. It was also the worst-performing industrial sector last year - output plunged 11.3% from 2011.

Source: DBSV