WEekend today October 30 - 31, 2010
CapitaLand Q3 net
profit dives 43.3%
Mok Fei Fei
feifei@mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE — CapitaLand which is South-
east Asia’s largest developer said third-
quarter net profit slumped 43.3 per cent to
$159.6 million from a year earlier.
Revenue declined by 34.6 per cent from
a year earlier to $684.6 million because of
lower revenue recognition upon comple-
tion of residential projects in Singapore.
Loss of rental revenue following the
divestment of Clarke Quay in Singapore
and three shopping malls in Malaysia to
subsidiaries also made a dent in earnings.
The decrease was partially offset by
higher revenue from development projects
in Australia and Vietnam.
CapitaLand says it is optimistic that
all its business units will achieve strong
operating performance for the year.
Separately, CapitaLand said it plans to
expand its presence in China and Vietnam
with the establishment of a new business
unit, CapitaValue Homes.
The unit will cater to homebuyers
whose mortgage capacity to purchase
Nordic group
launches IPO
SINGAPORE — Nordic Group, a homeg-
rown supplier of automation systems to
the oil and gas industry, plans to raise about
$20 million through an initial public offer-
ing on the Singapore Exchange.
Nordic is offering 110 million new
shares at 20 cents each. Two million shares
have been set aside for the public, while
108 million shares are available by way of
placement.
Nordic plans to use $6 million of the
proceeds to increase production capac-
ity, expand its sales network and fund its
operations in China.
It plans to deploy more sales personnel
in areas where shipyards are concentrated
— such as Guangzhou, Jiangsu and Liaon-
ing — by the end of the year.
Another $1 million will be used to ex-
pand its maintenance-repair-overhaul and
trading divisions so as to tap into more op-
portunities for conversion and retrofitting
works for existing vessels.
The remaining money will be used for
product development, acquisition of com-
panies and technologies as well as general
working capital. The public offer will close
at noon on Nov 8th.
Listing and trading of Nordic’s shares
on the SGX Mainboard are expected to start
two days later. Jonathan Peeris
25
homes is pegged to about 40 per cent of the
household income level in a particular city.
For a start, CapitaValue Homes has
identified two sites, one each in China
and Vietnam, as its maiden projects. The
unit’s first Vietnamese project will be a
500-apartment development located in
Ho Chi Minh City.
For the project in China, CapitaValue
Homes will build more than 2,000 homes
in Wuhan City. Meanwhile, CapitaLand is
facing more legal woes at its integrated
leisure resort project in Macau.
New Cotai Entertainment, which is a
joint-venture partner in Macao Studio City,
has filed a petition in Hong Kong to compel
East Asia Satellite Television to sell its stake
in the project. East Asia is owned by Capi-
taLand and Hong Kong’s eSun Holdings.
New Cotai wants the court to require
East Asia to transfer its interest in the Macao
Studio City joint venture to New Cotai at a
price to be determined by the court.
New Cotai is alleging that East Asia
engaged in unfair and prejudicial conduct
in relation to the Macao Studio City project.
SGX-ASX deal yet to be approved
SINGAPORE — Singapore Exchange (SGX)
is yet to seek approval from Australia’s
Foreign Investment Review Board, (FIRB),
for its proposed $10.7 billion takeover of
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), according
to an Australian newspaper.
FIRB approval is a precondition for
major foreign takeovers of Australian busi-
nesses. Usually, groundwork on major take-
overs begins well in advance of a takeover
announcement.
Without citing sources, The Australian
said that SGX has yet to lodge a notification
with the FIRB. The report added that inves-
tors in Singapore were becoming increas-
ingly sceptical that the deal would proceed.
Agilent Tech to launch facility here
SINGAPORE — Measurements and technol-
ogy company, Agilent Technologies, is beef-
ing up its presence in Asia with the launch
of its life-sciences instrument manufactur-
ing facility here yesterday.
With Asia continuing to grow faster
than the US and Europe, the firm estimates
revenue from the region is likely to grow
beyond the current 37 per cent of total.
The machines Agilent make are used to
test for melamine in milk powder or other
unwanted chemicals in foods or ingredients.
They can also help pharmaceutical compa-
The headquarters of CapitaLand Ltd in
Singapore. Bloomberg
When contacted by MediaCorp, SGX
declined to add to the statements it made
on Monday while announcing the deal,
which would create the world’s fifth-larg-
est publicly traded bourse.
The takeover proposal has irked sev-
eral Australian politicians who say they
oppose it in Australia’s “national interest.”
A number of them have vowed to block it
in parliament. Lawmakers’ support is cru-
cial for exemption from a rule that limits
any single entity from owning more than
15 perc ent of ASX.
SGX shares fell 0.9 per cent on Friday
to close at $8.8. ASX shares slumped more
than 2 per cent to A$37.1 ($47).
nies discover ingredients for drugs and iden-
tify any impurities before manufacturing.
Such high-value instruments are now
manufactured in Singapore. Agilent said it
plans to sell its equipment across the region
to drugmakers, food-safety bodies as well as
research departments at universities.
“If Asia continues to grow dispropor-
tionately to the US and Europe, we will
see our business in Asia grow over 40 per
cent, that’s why we’ve been so aggressive,”
said Bill Sullivan, chief executive officer,
Agilent Technologies. Chris Howells
¢ KS Energy acquires 60 % of PPE
Integrated oil-and-gas services provider, KS
Energy, is taking control of an Indonesian oil
drilling firm PT Petro Papua Energy (PPE) by
buying a 60 per cent stake for $6.8 million.
The acquisition allows KS Energy to
break into the drilling industry in Indonesia,
as PPE has the necessary licences.
The approval process to acquire a licence
is typically long and difficult. KS Energy is
currently operating in Indonesia largely in
the distribution and services segments. The
company has drilling operations in areas like
the Middle East and parts of Africa.
Next month, PPE will start on a contract
from an international oil major worth $86 mil-
lion, to provide and operate two new land rigs.
Ryan Huang
¢ Indofood Agri shares drop
Shares of Mainboard-listed Indofood Agri
Resources fell after the company reported
net profit of $39.2 million for the third quar-
ter of this year. This is an 18.1 per cent drop
from a year earlier.
IndoAgri shares fell about 1.9 per cent
to $2.6.
The company, which also owns palm oil,
sugar and rubber plantations, says the drop
in profit was due to the strengthening of the
Indonesian rupiah and a smaller increase in
the fair value of its biological assets.
Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter came
in at $348 million, a 7.4 per cent decrease when
compared with the earlier period of the year.
¢ Venture Corp dip in Q3 revenue
Tech firm Venture Corporation chalked up
a profit of $48.6 million in its third quarter,
27.2 per cent higher than in the same period
last year. However, revenue dipped to $677.9
million – a drop of 26.9 per cent from the
year-earlier period.
Venture’s printing and imaging business
saw revenue decline “primarily from a major
customer,” the company said in a statement.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter
came in at 17.7 cents, an increase from 13.9
cents a year earlier.
Venture Corp said it will continue with
its new value-added strategy, which involves
a shift towards technology services as well
as design and engineering.
¢ SMRT Q2 net profit sees a drop
SMRT says its second-quarter net profit fell
13.3 per cent from a year earlier to $45.8 mil-
lion. The next year may be challenging, the
transport operator said.
Profit declined despite revenue for the
period rising 7.2 per cent to $246 million.
SMRT says the revenue increase is prima-
rily because of stronger MRT ridership, contri-
butions from Circle Line Stages 1 and 2, higher
bus ridership and better rental and advertising
revenue. These gains were partially offset by
lower revenue from Palm Jumeirah Monorail.
Rental revenue grew 16.4 per cent from
a year earlier to S$2.6 million, following
the redevelopment of commercial spaces at
various MRT stations. Jonathan Peeris