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Singapore stock market and companies daily report (Hyflux, United Engineers) (February 25, 2010)

Contributed by Shares Investment

By Shares Investment

US Stocks Rebound From Their Losses
Stocks ended a 2-day losing streak as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke favoring low interest rates outweighed bleak housing data. The stock market bounced back in a strong move that finished with stocks near their session highs. The Fed chief stressed that the increase of its discount rate on emergency loans to banks last week will not necessarily translate into an increase in the benchmark funds rate anytime soon. The dollar came under pressure and fell to a loss of 0.7% against competing currencies. The Commerce Department reported that new-home sales skidded 11.2% in January from December. Oil was especially strong. It finished 1.3% higher at $79.93 per barrel. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 1/32 to yield 3.685%.

Hyflux Profit Surges By 27%
Despite a 5% drop in revenue, Hyflux recorded an increase of 27% in earnings, while 4Q09 earnings almost doubled, from $13.4m to $26m. Earnings were attributed to a $12 million divestment gain by selling 50%-stake in a desalination plant in Tianjin, China, to Japan’s JGC Corp. Lower revenue was due to lower sales on the timing of revenue recognition and poor economic conditions in China, which held back the building of new water treatment plants. Hyflux is declaring a dividend of 5 cents per share, up from 3.43 cents last year.

United Engineers’ Earnings Soar
United Engineers’ (UE) earnings soared more than 8 times in FY09 due to progressive recognition of revenue from sales of residential pjts, The Rochester and Park Central@AMK. Gross profit margin was able to maintain at 23%. A $6m increase in other income to $10.6m due to fair value gains from UE’s short-term investments also contributed to the bottomline. Its cash and cash equivalents stood at $318m as at 31 Dec-09.

This article is contributed by Shares Investment. Visit Sharesinv.com for the latest Singapore, Malaysia and China stock market news and reports.