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Saudi vows extra cuts as Opec+ agrees small rise in oil output

elean
3 minutes

MOSCOW/LONDON/DUBAI (REUTERS) - Saudi Arabia pledged additional, voluntary oil output cuts of one million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March as part of a deal under which most Opec+ producers will hold production steady in the face of new coronavirus lockdowns. Saudi is going beyond its promised cuts as part of the Opec+ group of producers to support both its own economy and the oil market, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Tuesday (Jan 5). "If there is one way to describe what its voluntary cut means for the market, 'happy hour' is a pretty fitting term," Rystad Energy analyst Bjornar Tonhaugen said in a note. Benchmark Brent oil prices rose on the news, trading up almost 5 per cent above US$53 per barrel at 2023 GMT. The deal - under which most producers will hold output steady - followed two days of talks by Opec+, which groups Opec and others including Russia. Two members - Russia and Kazakhstan - will be allowed to bump up their output by a modest combined 75,000 bpd in February and a further 75,000 bpd in March. Their increases could frustrate Opec+ peers similarly looking to pump more, but it was apparent the two were keen to avoid non-maintenance ...

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CCB International Believes Redsun Services’ Recent M&A will Strengthen its Central China and Non-Residential Exposure

indie
3 minutes

HONG KONG, Jan 5, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Redsun Services Group Limited ("Redsun Services" or the "Group"; stock code: 1971), a fast-growing comprehensive community services provider focused on the Yangtze River Delta, has earned CCB International's optimistic view accolade owing to a recent M&A that will strengthen its Central China and Non-Residential Exposure. The Group has also been given a "Buy" rating by CCB International with a target price at HK$8.8. On 31 December 2020, Redsun Services announced it would be acquiring an 80% stake in Wuhan Huidehang Elite Property Service Co. (Wuhan Huidehang) for RMB216 million, implying 13x 2021 forward P/E. In 2018, 2019 and the first 10 months of 2020, Wuhan Huidehang recorded RMB54 million, RMB55 million and RMB61 million in revenue and RMB11 million, RMB12 million and RMB15 million in net profit respectively. Forecast in 2021, 2022 and 2023, revenue will be RMB86 million, RMB99 million and RMB114 million, while guaranteed net profit will be RMB21 million, RMB24 million and RMB27 million respectively. For the first 10 months of 2020, gross profit margin and net margin stood at a decent level of c.38% and 24% respectively. Wuhan Hui...

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Opec+ warns of risk to oil recovery from resurgent Covid-19 pandemic

elean
4 minutes

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - Opec warned of risks to the oil market from the resurgent pandemic, a day before the group and its allies meet to consider another increase in production. "The outlook for the first half of 2021 is very mixed," Opec Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said at a preparatory meeting on Sunday (Jan 3). "There are still many downside risks to juggle." The alliance of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia will decide on Monday whether it can continue to restore crude supplies without capsizing the price recovery they spent most of 2020 working to achieve. Moscow believes that the group - which slashed output last year - can revive another 500,000 barrels a day of idle capacity in February, on top of an increase scheduled for this month. Riyadh, which has favored greater caution, is keeping its own views under wraps. But while the Sunday meeting hasn't addressed future output policy so far in any detail, a Saudi official there noted the fragility of the recovery, according to delegates who declined to be named. "We think the producer group will opt to forgo any further production increases for February with Covid-19 cases continuing to climb and the slower than ex...

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Company Briefs: AMTD International

elean
2 minutes

AMTD International Investment banking firm AMTD International, which is dual-listed in New York and Singapore, has promoted Mr William Fung to chief executive, succeeding Mr Calvin Choi. This is in addition to Mr Fung's current position of group vice-president of the company's parent, Hong Kong-based AMTD Group. Mr Fung was AMTD International's chief investment officer and head of asset management. Meanwhile, Mr Choi and the vice-chairman Andrew Chiu will step down from the company's board. THE BUSINESS TIMES Telegram Encrypted messaging app Telegram will launch pay-for services next year, its Russian-born founder Pavel Durov said Wednesday, as the growing company needed "at least a few hundred million dollars per year". "Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year," Mr Durov said in a statement. "We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users." Mr Durov, 36, said he did not plan to sell the company and therefore needed to look for other ways to come up with funding. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Ezion Holdings The offshore and marine player posted a net loss of US$224.5 million (S$298.4 million) for the third quarter ended Sept 30, wideni...

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G.H.Y. Culture & Media up as much as 6.1% on SGX debut

elean
3 minutes

Entertainment and content provider G.H.Y. Culture & Media Holding began trading on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) yesterday at 70 cents, some 6.1 per cent higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price of 66 cents per share. As at 10.02am, the stock eased to trade at 66.5 cents, translating to a gain of about 0.8 per cent from the IPO price. With nearly 8.7 million shares having changed hands at that time, G.H.Y. was one of the most active counters by volume on the Singapore bourse in the morning. G.H.Y. group chief executive and chairman Guo Jingyu yesterday said the listing enables the firm - which produces and promotes dramas, films and concerts in the Asia-Pacific region - to enhance its profile both in Singapore and abroad. G.H.Y. sold 21.7 million shares priced at 66 cents apiece as part of its listing on the SGX. The offering comprised 18.7 million placement shares and a public offer of three million shares. The public offer closed at noon on Wednesday. The firm on Thursday evening reported that it received applications from both retail and institutional investors for 16 times the number of shares available in the IPO's public tranche. There were 1,402 va...

SeaPRwire

G.H.Y Culture & Media’s IPO shares priced at 66 cents

elean
2 minutes

Entertainment company G.H.Y Culture & Media Holding lodged its final prospectus yesterday ahead of a mainboard listing. It is offering 21.7 million shares at 66 cents each in its initial public offering (IPO), comprising 18.7 million placement shares and three million under the public offer. Its market capitalisation will be about $708.7 million after the IPO. The public offer opened yesterday and closes at noon next Wednesday, with trading expected to start next Friday. Cornerstone investors have also struck agreements with the firm for around 162.7 million cornerstone shares, of which 141.2 million will be newly issued and 21.5 million will be vendor shares owned by investment holding firm Taiho Holding and group adviser John Ho. The cornerstone investors include Osim International founder Ron Sim, brand developer V3 Brands and investment firm Yinson Capital. The IPO and issuance of new cornerstone shares will generate about $115.1 million in net proceeds, of which $101 million will be due to the company. Proceeds will be used to invest in production, acquisitions and alliances to expand its TV and film productions and concert segments. G.H.Y's core business is producing and prom...

SeaPRwire

S’pore tech firm Sea raises $3.4b in upsized stock offering

elean
2 minutes

Singapore's Sea, the technology start-up that has become South-east Asia's most valuable company, increased the size and set the final price of a secondary stock offering to raise at least US$2.57 billion (S$3.4 billion). Sea priced the sale of 13.2 million American depositary shares at US$195 each, increasing the size from 11 million because of strong demand, according to a statement. The underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co, have the option for another 1.98 million shares, which would yield US$386 million at the same price. Sea, a games company that has expanded into e-commerce and digital payments, has surged to a market valuation of almost US$100 billion, with its shares rising 395 per cent this year alone. It intends to spend the proceeds from the new offering on business expansion, "including potential strategic investments and acquisitions", the firm said in its statement. The company just won a licence to open a digital bank in Singapore, a coveted award that will allow expansion into financial services. Under criteria set by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, digital full banks are required to have total capital of at least $1.5 billion, with ...

ACN Newswire

NIU Technologies Announced Q3 2020 Financial Results: Revenue up 36.7% YoY, Total Volume of E-scooter Sales up 67.9% YoY

indie
3 minutes

HONG KONG, Nov 27, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - NIU Technologies ("NIU", or "the Company") (NASDAQ: NIU), the world's leading provider of smart urban mobility solutions, announced its financial results for Q3 2020.Driven by Strong Growth in the China Market, Revenues and E-scooter Sales Volume increased significantlyFor Q3 2020, the revenue is RMB 894.5 million, which is an increase of 36.7% YoY. The net income is RMB 80 million for Q3 2020, compared with RMB 66.4 million in Q3 2019. The adjusted net income (non-GAAP) is RMB 90.6 million, compared with RMB 72.5 million in Q3 2019. Due to strong growth in China, the number of e-scooters sold reached 250,889 units, which is 67.9% YoY. The number of e-scooters sold in China reached 245,293, which is up 70.2% YoY. E-scooter sales revenues from China market is RMB 740.8 million, an increase of 39.2% YoY, which represents 92.6% of total e-scooter revenues. The increase is mainly driven by retail network expansion and new product launches in China. During Q3 2020, the number of franchised stores in China reached 1,266, which is an increase of 182 stores from Q2 2020. In the international market, the number of e-scooters sold reached 5,596 unit...

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HSBC sues oil tycoon and family to recover $116 million

elean
1 minute

HSBC Holdings is suing the Lim family and an employee of bankrupt oil trader Hin Leong Trading to recover US$85.3 million (S$115.7 million) of US$111.7 million that they allegedly obtained with bogus invoices and forged documents, according to court papers seen by The Straits Times. HSBC, the firm's largest creditor with about US$600 million owing, is the first bank to take legal action against oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, better known as O.K. Lim, and his two children to recover its losses. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

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Great Eastern Q3 profit up 40% to $287.9 million

elean
2 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Great Eastern Holdings on Wednesday (Nov 4) posted a 40 per cent rise in net profit to $287.9 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, from $205.1 million a year ago. The insurance arm of OCBC said this was mainly due to the higher valuation of investments, on the back of improved financial market conditions during the quarter. Operating profit slipped 4 per cent to $171.4 million, from $178.5 million a year earlier. This was due to greater new business strain resulting from higher sales in Singapore, Great Eastern said. Meanwhile, non-operating profit came in at $50 million for the third quarter, reversing from a loss of $31.3 million in the preceding year. Profit from shareholders' fund rose 20 per cent to $74.9 million, from $62.3 million a year ago, due to higher mark-to-market gains from equities, the insurer noted. In addition, a pick-up of activity across all markets led to a 36 per cent growth in total weighted new sales to $432.8 million, from $317.5 million in the year-ago period. Amid higher sales, new business embedded value edged up 2 per cent to $160.2 million, from $157.4 million in the corresponding period last year. Group chief ...

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Wintermar Offshore (WINS:JK) Reports 9M2020 Results

indie
5 minutes

JAKARTA, Oct 28, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Wintermar Offshore Marine (WINS:JK) has announced results for 9M2020. Wintermar's Owned Vessel revenue for 9M2020 was 17% lower YOY at US$24.6 million and there was a slight improvement on a quarterly basis in 3Q2020 compared to 2Q2020.--Owned Vessel DivisionFor the 9M2020 period, Owned Vessel Division recorded a gross loss of US$2.8 million, largely due to cancellations and postponement of contracts caused by the pandemic. Cost efficiency measures and a streamlining of the fleet undertaken since last year led to a 14% YOY decline in Owned Vessel direct expenses, which helped mitigate some of the losses.On a quarterly basis, revenue for 3Q2020 was slightly improved as compared to 2Q2020 while direct expenses fell.Measures taken to improve cost efficiency resulted in a 14% reduction in direct expenses for Owned Vessels. Fuel costs dropped sharply by 71% YOY while depreciation fell by 14% YOY due to the sale of 4 vessels in the period 1 January 2020 until 30 September 2020. However, due to the cost of extra precautions taken to ensure the health and safety of crew and clients crewing costs were only 3% lower YOY for 9M2020.--Chartering and Oth...

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Westpac takes $1.16 billion charge for laundering, refunds

elean
2 minutes

SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Westpac Banking Corp. has taken a A$1.2 billion (S$1.16 billion) charge against second-half earnings to cover a record money-laundering fine and the mounting cost of compensating customers for years of misconduct. The charge is the latest blow to Australia's oldest bank, which last month was hit with a A$1.3 billion penalty for the country's biggest breach of anti-money laundering laws. Earlier this year it deferred paying a dividend as bad-debt charges swelled amid the coronavirus-induced recession. Among the charges announced on Monday (Oct 26) were: A$415 million for the money-laundering fine, including legal costs. Westpac had previously provisioned A$900 million for a settlement, but the cost blew out after further breaches were uncovered. A$568 million to write down the value of its life insurance and auto-finance units, as well as software A$182 million to compensate customers, including business borrowers and wrongly-charged insurance fees A$55 million from asset sales and revaluations Chief executive officer Peter King is seeking to restore the bank's battered reputation after the money-laundering scandal led to the departure of predecessor Brian Hartz...

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Nanofilm IPO shares priced at $2.59; Temasek to take substantial stake

elean
2 minutes

Nanofilm Technologies, a spin-off company of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), lodged its final prospectus yesterday, offering 77.2 million shares at $2.59 each for placement in its initial public offering (IPO) for a total of $470.1 million. However, only $190.9 million raised from the issuance of new cornerstone shares will go to the company. The shares, to be listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange, comprise around 73.4 million shares under the international offering and 3.9 million shares under the Singapore public offer, representing approximately 11.7 per cent of Nanofilm's enlarged post-IPO share capital of 658.4 million shares. Based on its placement price, Nanofilm's market capitalisation will be about $1.7 billion post-placement. The public offer opened at 6pm yesterday and will close at noon next Wednesday. Net proceeds due to the company will be used for the development and building of new machinery, and for research and development and engineering in order to enter new end-industries and look into new areas in existing markets. It will also be used for construction, refurbishment and renovation of new and existing production facilities, and general corp...

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Business Briefs: CapitaLand Mall Trust

elean
3 minutes

CapitaLand Mall Trust CapitaLand Mall Trust's (CMT) distribution per unit rose 1.3 per cent to 3.1 cents for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from 3.06 cents a year ago. For the third quarter this year, CMT's gross revenue tumbled 25.3 per cent to $150.3 million, from $201.1 million a year earlier. This was mainly due to rental waivers of $29.5 million granted to tenants affected by Covid-19, as well as lower gross turnover and other income, the manager said yesterday. Net property income fell 27.6 per cent on the year to $104.4 million for the quarter, from $144.2 million. Distributable income was up 1.1 per cent year on year to $114.3 million, from $113 million. Unit holders can expect to receive the distribution on Nov 19. THE BUSINESS TIMES Suntec Reit Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust's (Suntec Reit) distribution per unit fell 21.9 per cent to 1.848 cents for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from 2.365 cents a year ago. This came as distributable income from operations dropped 12.6 per cent year on year to $52.2 million, from $59.7 million. This was due to the absence of contribution from Suntec Singapore and one-off compensation received at Marina Bay Financial Centre prope...

SeaPRwire

Pandemic speeds up labour shift to robots

elean
2 minutes

ZURICH • Robots will destroy 85 million jobs at mid-sized to large businesses over the next five years as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates changes in the workplace, a World Economic Forum (WEF) study has found. Surveys of nearly 300 global companies found four out of five business executives were accelerating plans to digitise work and deploy new technologies, undoing employment gains made since the financial crisis of 2007-2008. "Covid-19 has accelerated the arrival of the future of work," WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi said. For workers set to remain in their roles in the next five years, nearly half would need to learn new skills, and by 2025, employers will divide work between humans and machines equally, the study found. Overall, job creation is slowing and job destruction is accelerating as companies around the world use technology rather than people for data entry, accounting and administration duties. The good news is that more than 97 million jobs will emerge across the care economy, in tech industries like artificial intelligence (AI), and in content creation, Geneva-based WEF said. "The tasks where humans are set to retain their comparative advantage include managi...

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Netflix falls short on new subscribers as Covid-19 boost fizzles

elean
3 minutes

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Netflix on Tuesday (Oct 20) posted its weakest subscriber gains in four years as streaming competition increased, pandemic restrictions eased and live sports returned to television. The company added 2.2 million paid subscribers globally during the quarter that ended Sept 30, missing Wall Street's target of 3.4 million and its own forecast. Earnings per share also landed below analyst expectations at US$1.74. The consensus forecast was US$2.14, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Shares of Netflix, one of the biggest gainers this year as people stayed home amid the pandemic, dropped nearly 6 per cent to US$494 (S$670) in after-hours trading on Tuesday. "Domestic subscribers were nearly flat, which highlights Netflix's saturation in the US," said Ross Benes, analyst with eMarketer. With domestic additions slowing, revenue growth will likely come from price increases, he said. The company reported a blockbuster quarter at the start of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, adding 15.8 million paying customers from January through March. Netflix had warned investors that a sudden surge in new sign-ups would fade in the latter half of the year as Covid-19 restrict...

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Lawyer who left Singapore after $33m went missing faces 14 more charges involving $17m

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - A lawyer who left Singapore after more than $33 million parked at his firm went missing has been issued with 19 new charges. Jeffrey Ong Su Aun was charged on Tuesday (Oct 20) with 14 counts of criminal breach of trust as an attorney involving more than $17.4 million, as well as five counts of cheating. In a statement, police said that the 43-year-old Singaporean now faces 76 charges in all. In total, Ong is implicated in a case involving more than $75 million. This is a greater sum than the $50 million in church funds that six City Harvest church leaders were found guilty of misusing in 2015. Ong was the managing partner of law firm JLC Advisors when more than $33 million held in escrow in the firm for a client, Allied Technologies, went missing. Escrow is an essential service in capital markets that supports transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. His latest charges regarding criminal breach of trust as an attorney involve more than $17.4 million that was held in escrow by JLC Advisors for the firm CW Group Holdings, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He is accused of misappropriating the monies in 2015 and 2016, and is said to have largely engage...