Banyan Tree Holdings' fourth-quarter net profit rose 44 per cent to S$5.6 million as better property sales and one-off disposal gains offset a weaker hotel segment, the company announced on Wednesday evening. Earnings per share rose to 0.67 Singapore cent for the three months ended Dec 31, 2018, from 0.49 cent a year ago. The company is declaring a final cash dividend of 1.05 Singapore cent per share for the year. Banyan Tree shares closed at 59.5 Singapore cents on Wednesday before the results were announced.

M1 has lost its free float and will be delisted after the close of the voluntary conditional general offer.Currently, Konnectivity - owned jointly by Keppel and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) - and its concert parties control 835.1 million shares or 90.15 per cent of the total number of shares of M1. Keppel and SPH said more acceptances had come following M1 long-term shareholder Axiata Group Bhd's acceptance of the joint offer of S$2.06 per share for its entire stake of 28.6 per cent.

Soilbuild Construction Group widened to S$4.1 million from a net loss of S$2.7 million in the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Wednesday. This was largely due to higher cost of sales for S$5.3 million incurred following the grant of arbitration award from an arbitration by its subsidiary against a sub-contractor.

Olam International has posted a net profit of S$75.3 million for the fourth quarter, down 71.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier in the absence of an exceptional gain of S$155.4 million. Operational Patmi fell 34.4 per cent to S$72 million, as lower takings from the peanuts, coffee, rice and dairy businesses offset growth in cocoa, packaged foods and wood products.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage underlying net profit rose 12 per cent to US$858 million from the year ago period. For the 12 months ended Dec 31, revenue increased 9.5 per cent to US$18.99 billion from the year-ago period. The expansion in revenue was due to revenue growth in most of Astra's businesses, it said. These included Astra's heavy equipment, mining, construction and energy, and financial services businesses

Source: Business Times, Financial Times