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Singapore stock market and companies daily report (Temasek, BBR Holdings, Indofood) (March 05, 2013)

Contributed by Shares Investment

Temasek Increased Stake In Spanish Oil Firm
Singapore investment company Temasek has bought a further 5 percent stake in Spain’s largest oil and gas company, Repsol, deepening its investments in energy and natural resources. It paid €1.036 billion ($1.68 billion) for the 64.7 million Repsol treasury shares, bringing its total stake in the firm to 6.3 percent, Temasek said on 4 March 2013. The €16.01 per share represents a 1.7 percent discount to Repsol’s last traded price on Bolsa de Madrid, where it is listed. Tay Sulian, Temasek managing director said: “The investment in Repsol deepens our exposure to the energy sector through a high quality, growth-orientated company. The sector is a good proxy for the needs of transforming economies and growing middle-income populations, both of which are part of Temasek’s investment themes.”
Significance: Temasek’s investment in Repsol marks a deepening interest in the energy and resources sector, which accounted for 6 percent of its $198 billion portfolio as at 31 March 2012. These include investments in potash and phosphate producer Mosaic Company and Chesapeake Energy Corporation, the third-largest US natural gas producer.

BBR Rakes In $61.6m Worth Of Contracts In 3 Months
BBR Holdings, a local construction group, announced that it had clinched $61.6 million worth of new contracts between November 2012 and January 2013. The Singapore-listed firm said the jobs include the construction of the prestigious Dulwich College in Singapore and a number of structural work and specialist engineering contracts in Singapore and Malaysia. BBR’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Singa Development, secured the contract to build the college, which will be Singapore’s first British independent school. Construction work will begin immediately at the five-hectare Bukit Batok West site and is scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2014. BBR’s structural and specialist engineering contracts in Singapore and Malaysia include work for a hospital, light industrial flatted factories, warehouses, bridges, service apartments and a shopping mall.
Significance: The $61.6 million worth of new contracts secured are in addition to the two HDB contracts to build 808 flats at Kallang Whampoa for $108 million and 474 flats at Sengkang Neighbourhood 2 for $74.9 million. With these recent wins, its orderbook now stands at $1.02 billion with projects lasting to 2015.

Indofood Doubles Stake In China Minzhong
As anticipated by the market, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur has raised its stake in China Minzhong Food Corporation. China Minzhong, a Singapore-listed Chinese integrated vegetable processor, said that Indofood has doubled its shareholding interests from 14.95 percent to 29.33 percent. The additional 14.38 percent stake came from the acquisition of 94.25 million shares from Tetrad Ventures for about $105.6 million, or $1.12 a share. Tetrad, an investment company of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, sold its equity stake on 28 February 2013. China Minzhong’s executive chairman and chief executive officer Lin Guo Rong said yesterday: “Indofood and China Minzhong have identified many potential synergises between our businesses such as strategic cooperation in supply chain and product distribution in the fast-moving markets of China and Indonesia.”
Significance: As Indofood has a history of being a major shareholder in previous acquisitions, we feel that even as it has increased its shareholdings to 29.33 percent, this might not be the end if it wants to have an absolute control. We even do not rule out a privatisation offer in the future, according to Maybank Kim Eng.