Equity capital raising in Singapore slowed year-on-year in a volatile third quarter, but real estate investment trusts helped maintain year-to-date volumes at a five-year high.3Q ECM (equity capital market) activities were muted primarily due to the uncertainties in the equity market. Proceeds raised from priced stock sales, including convertible deals, in Singapore fell 20% y-o-y to US$4.4bn in the three months to September, preliminary data compiled by Thomson Reuters showed. Year-to-date, equity deals have raised US$14.9 bn in Singapore. Real estate investment trusts (Reits) have dominated Singapore equity capital markets so far this year. Reits led the way during the quarter, with Overseas Union Enterprise raising US$521m from the spinning off of the OUE Hospitality Trust and Singapore Press Holdings drawing US$440m for its SPH Reit. For the nine months ended September, equity deals from the real estate sector accounted for 39%, or US$5.8 bn, of the total. On the new listings front, 86%, or US$2.9 bn, of total year-to-date IPO proceeds were raised by real estate plays.

EMS Energy has secured from its major shareholder, Koastal Industries, a contract worth US$36m to build a Derrick Equipment Set (DES), complete with full drilling equipment, for an offshore tender assisted drilling rig, commonly known as tender rig, and expects to secure two more DES of similar value over the next few months. EMS will deliver the first DES for the tender rig, over 18 months to Koastal for a China state-owned Shipyard. The project is the largest that EES has secured to date. With this first DES project secured, the Group's order book has increased to about S$67.8m from S$18.4m as announced in August 2013.

Geo Energy Resourceshas entered into a mining services contract and a coal mining cooperation agreement with PT Parisma Jaya Abadi (PJA). PJA holds mining business permits for an area of 5,000 hectares located in East Kalimantan Province.

ISDN Holdings has acquired 80% stakes in two more Indonesian hydropower-related businesses for a total of US$1.9m. The acquisitions, funded by the company's reserves, are the latest in a string of purchases made by ISDN to expand in Indonesia's hydropower production sector.

Avic International Maritime is riding on the wave of China's shipyard boom, via the strategic acquisition last year of Deltamarin, which is known for its strengths in innovation and design capabilities. Two factors have led Avic's rise in profile among Chinese shipyards: Firstly, it has been able to take advantage of the lack of in-house structured design capabilities among Chinese yards to offer customised designs for individual customers. Secondly, the Avic group, the parent company of Avic International Maritime, is a Fortune 500, state-owned enterprise in China. This not only entitles it to strong support from Chinese financial institutions, it also means it can tap into its network to build its business.

Ley Choon Grouphas won four contracts amounting to about $30.6m, raising its order book to $233.4m. Two of the projects came from PowerGas, the third from JTC and the last one is a subcontracting contract for supply and installation of power cables. The group will continue to leverage growth opportunities afforded by the increase in public infrastructure projects to expand its business.

CCFH Ltd is placing out 124m new shares at an issue price of S$0.0333 per share, amounting to S$4.1m. The issue price represents a discount of approximately 9.98% to the last volume-weighted average price. The proceeds will be used for the general and corporate working capital requirements of the Group.

US stocks fell as the debate among lawmakers continued. Democrats offered a new proposal to fund the government through Nov15, which complicates efforts to avoid a government shutdown in a week. The 10-year treasury yield dipped to a 6-wk low of 2.66% as investors bet that the FED will not cut back on QE next month.

Source: DBSV