Eurozone uncertainty continued to cause market choppiness after ECB turned up the pressure on Cyprus to deliver a rescue package, saying it may cut off emergency funds to Cypriot banks after March 25 unless a plan is in place "that would ensure the solvency of the concerned banks." Cyprus has suggested raising the money through its wealthier bank customers. Deposits less than €100k would remain whole as per earlier guarantees; deposits in excess of €100k would be clipped by about 15%. This should be enough to cover the €6bil that is needed. Stay tuned.

Kreuz's earnings delivery has consistently exceeded our expectations as they have continued to secure additional work at higher margins from customers, based on their execution track record. The robust industry outlook underpins order book momentum and earnings growth trajectory. Kruez is building asset base to propel future growth. It has won US$155m worth of orders in FY12, and current orderbook stands at US$205m, of which about 90% will be recognised in FY13. Valuations are still cheap at 4.6x FY13 earnings; maintain BUY with higher TP of S$0.58 (Prev S$ 0.43).

In the latest of a series of contracts secured by ST Engineering this year, its US shipyard, VT Halter Marine, has landed an exercised option for a barge unit from Bouchard Transportation in the region of US$100m. Bouchard Transportation Co Inc's exercise of its option for the additional articulated tug barge (ATB) unit follows its contract award for a similar one last month. The construction of the first barge will begin in April, with delivery scheduled for mid-2015. Construction of the second barge will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with delivery slated for the first quarter of 2016.

SembCorp Marine's subsidiary, Sembmarine SLP, has secured an exclusive licence from Seahorse Platform Partners Ltd (SPPL) to use its patented technology in the design and construction of Minimum Facilities Platforms (MFPs) for the North Sea, Irish waters, and other territorial waters of the UK. The licence is for SPPL's patented Seaharvester and SeaHorse technology. SLP and SPPL have delivered 18 MFPs based on the Seaharvester technology.

Otto Marineannounced that PT Batamec, its Indonesia-based shipyard, has secured contracts to fabricate, assemble and deliver four pre-erected columns and pontoon blocks worth a total of S$6.3m. Secured from a renowned Singapore-based customer, these contracts are a significant milestone in Otto Marine's bid to expand and to strengthen its shipyard operations and presence in the robust offshore oil and gas industry in the region. An immediate boost to shipyard utilisation and contributes to contract win momentum, these contracts are scheduled for delivery in June 2013.

JES Internationalhas signed a letter of intent to construct up to 4 Offshore Accommodation Vessels (OAVs) valued at approximately US$147m each. This letter of intent is signed with the buyer from a Singapore-based offshore company.

Saizen Real Estate Investment Trust (Saizen Reit) has acquired a residential property in Japan for about S$10m. The property, Cosmos Kokura Eki Mae (CKEM) consists of a building with 61 residential units and 28 parking lots. At the current occupancy level of 88% (by revenue), the net property income yield of CKEM is about 6.5%. At the expected normalised occupancy rate of 94%, the net property income yield of CKEM is expected to be about 7.1%. The purchase and its related costs are expected to be financed via internal cash resources initially.

The Housing & Development Board (HDB) has launched close to 3,900 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, with another 7,850 flats to be made available for balloting in May. The four latest projects released yesterday were in three non-mature towns: Bukit Batok, Punggol and Sengkang. They will comprise studio apartments and two-room to five-room flats.

Source: DBSV