One in three companies was in the red, according to data compiled by The Business Times, and overall, total earnings of almost S$40 billion were down 19 per cent. The big downers include telcos and commodities, with risk aversion amid a slowing global economy and trade war fears taking a toll on many corporates. Among the 30 Singapore Exchange heavyweights that make up the Straits Times Index, there were as many misses as there were hits.

Chip Eng Seng's wholly-owned subsidiary CES Treasury on Wednesday launched its S$100 million 6 per cent notes due 2022. The Series 004 notes guaranteed by Chip Eng Seng are part of its S$750 million multi-currency debt issuance programme, to be issued on March 15 2019 and mature on March 15 2022. The notes will be issued at a price of 100 per cent of their principal amount and in denominations of S$250,000, bearing interest at a fixed rate of 6 per cent per annum payable semi-annually in arrear.

Yangzijiang on Wednesday responded to queries from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on several points in its financial results for FY18, including a 233 million yuan (S$47 million) write-off of trade and other receivables. The company explained that the provision was for advance payment to a supplier which ran into financial difficulties and had ceased operations. The company said that it plans to recover part of the advance payment via legal proceedings against the supplier, which commenced in mid-2018.

MOODY'S Investors Service has placed Frasers Centrepoint Trust 'Baa1' issuer rating under review for downgrade. This comes after FCT announced that it had entered into 12 conditional sale-and purchase agreements to acquire a 17.13 per cent stake in PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund for S$342.5 million. PGIM Fund owns and manages six retail malls in Singapore, one office property in Singapore and four retail malls in Malaysia.

Source: Business Times, Financial Times, SGX Masnet, , Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR