Reports » Singapore

Singapore stock market and companies daily report (Biosensors, Raffles Education) (February 09, 2012)

Contributed by Shares Investment

Singapore Tourism Sector Delivers Stellar Performance In 2011
Singapore¡¯s tourism industry delivered a stellar performance last year, registering significant growth in both visitor arrivals and tourism receipts, said Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a statement. Tourism industry revenue jumped 17 percent to a record $22.2 billion ¨C meeting STB¡¯s target of $22 billion-24 billion. Hotel room revenue worked out to $2.6 billion, translating to a year on year rise of 27.8 percent. This is despite a 5.1 percent injection of room supply, bringing the total number of rooms and the total number of hotels here to 49,719 rooms and 304 hotels respectively. Meanwhile, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) industry reported a 46 percent jump in the number of conventions, conferences and tradeshows to over 2,000 events, including 78 new ones such as Cruise Shipping Asia and DigitalEntertainment.Asia.

Significance: Despite big growth in visitor arrivals, STB expects the growth in 2012 to slow from 2011¡äs blistering pace amid uncertainties in the global economy. The target projections for 2012 are expected to release in March.

Biosensors Report Robust Sales And Earnings Growth In 9M12
Biosensors International Group¡¯s 9M12 earnings jumped more than 13-fold to US$337 million in tandem with a 82 percent jump in revenue to US$204 million, attributable to full quarter consolidation of the results of JW Medical Systems from 3Q12, higher product revenue & licensing revenue as well as gain from the remeasurement of interest in the joint venture company. Notably, Biosensors¡¯ licensing partner in Japan, Terumo Corporation, continued to record strong revenue growth for its Nobori drug-eluting stents resulting in a more than four-fold year-on-year increase in licensing revenue for Biosensors. ¡°Despite the volatile macro environment, we continued to gain share in our major markets during this quarter. Once again, our sales growth surpassed our expectation and we are pleased to revise our total revenue guidance to approximately 80 percent for this fiscal year, as compared to the previous growth range of 70 percent-80 percent,¡± concluded Co-Chief Executive Director Dr. Jack Wang.

Significance: Moving forward, the approval of BioMatrix as well as the active role of Shandong Weigao in Biosensors¡¯ capacity will be in focus. Particularly, with an ownership of 21.6 percent in Biosensors, Kim Eng Securities noted that Shandong Weigao is an important and worthy partner, and has greater incentive to ensure Biosensors¡¯ success in China.

Raffles Education¡¯s 2Q12 Earnings Fall 10% to $3.5m
Asia-Pacific¡¯s largest private education group, Raffles Education Corporation reported a 10 percent drop in 2Q12 earnings to $3.5 million, in tandem with a 13 percent drop in revenue to $36.1 million, due mainly to lower enrolment as the number of university-going students in China declined. For the first half of 2012, Raffles Education¡¯s earnings was $21.2 million, more than trebled its restated net profit of $6.3 million a year earlier. As at 31 Dec-11, Raffles Education¡¯s cash position was pared down to $67.7 million, from $82 million a year earlier. It has declared a distribution to shareholders of 0.5 cents per share as its first interim dividend for FY12.

Significance: Raffles Education¡¯s revenue from China is expected to continue to be affected by the challenging operating conditions in China. However, the firm is seeing positive outcome from its expansion strategy in the rest of the Asia-Pacific area and will continue its expansion strategy in this region to generate more revenue.