Reports » Singapore

Singapore stock market and companies daily report ( ) (July 13, 2010)

Contributed by Shares Investment

By Shares Investment

SPH’s Bottomline Up A Robust 47.4% In 9M10
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) posted a 47.4% jump in its 9M10 net profit boosted mainly by the strong rebound in advertising sales and higher contribution from its property segment. Operating revenue of the newspaper and magazine segment rose 8.3% to $732m while property revenue rose 29.2% to $320m. For 3Q10, SPH reported a 29.9% increase in net profit contributed by higher advertising sales and higher contribution from its property segment. Group operating revenue jumped 26.9% attributed to the rebound performance from the Newspaper and magazine segment as well as higher contribution from Sky@eleven. Segmentally, newspaper and magazine revenue increased 19.8% to $265.9m while print advertisement revenue jumped 28.1% to $204.3m with improvements seen in display, recruitment and other advertisement categories. Lastly, revenue from the property segment rose by 43.4% at $135.3m, on the back of higher revenue from Sky@eleven and increase in rental income from Paragon.

Significance: Judging from the operating numbers, FY10 performance should surpass that of FY09.

Jurong Shipyard Sells US$365m Jack-Up Drilling Rig To Seadrill
Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary, Jurong Shipyard has inked a deal to sell a US$356m jack-up drilling rig to a unit of Seadrill, a Norwegian company. The CJ-70 harsh environment jack-up drilling rig will be the first of its kind being built by any of Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiaries. The rig, one of the world’s largest, will be able to operate in water as deep as 150 metres. The rig, which will be delivered by end-April next year, is slated to be on a five-year charter to Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas company. The CJ-70 rig had originally been built for Petroprod D&P I, but its parent company, Petroprod, was placed under provisional liquidation in April last year. Following that, the rig-building contract was terminated by Jurong Shipyard in September last year after Petroprod D&P I failed to make further payments.

Significance: This project is another significant milestone for Sembcorp Marine as rigs constructed for the North Sea are typically more challenging as it is one of the world’s harshest offshore environments. Meanwhile, the contract will have a positive contribution to FY10.

Thomson Medical’s Earnings Surges 39% In Q3
Thomson Medical Centre (Thomson Medical) posted a 39% jump year-on-year in net profit to $4.8m for the third quarter ended May 31, 2010. Revenue rose 25.4% to $21.83m on the back of robust performances by both its hospital operations & ancillary services segment and specialized & other services segment. Better margins from both operations also improved gross profit margin from 42.7% to 44.7%. ‘Thomson Women Cancer Centre (TWCC) and newly started Thomson Paediatric Centre (TPC) together contributed 38% of (specialized and other services) segment revenue. These results are very encouraging to us as TWCC and TPC only opened in Feb-09 and Jan-10 respectively,’ said Allan Yeo, group chief executive. Its seven Thomson Women Clinics accounted for 40% of revenue for the segment. “While some may view Thomson Medical’s operations as smaller and more focused compared to peers, we are of the view that the niche operations make it more stable,” says DMG, which has a Buy call with target price of $0.88.

Significance: Moving forward, Thomson Medical plans to expand its network of women’s satellite clinics under TWC, enabling the company to continue benefiting from its niche operations.

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