Stocks to watch: UOB, Singtel, Parkson Retail Asia, Cordlife 

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Wednesday (Feb 19).

UOB: The lender on Wednesday posted a net profit of S$1.52 billion for the fourth quarter ended December, up 8.6 per cent from S$1.4 billion in the previous corresponding period. This included S$17 million in one-off expenses from UOB’s Citigroup integration costs after taxes, which was 81.9 per cent lower than the S$94 million recorded in the same period the previous year. A higher final dividend of S$0.92 per share for the half-year period, up from S$0.85 the year before was declared. Shares of UOB ended on Tuesday 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 higher at S$38.65, before the announcement.

Singtel: On Wednesday, the telco giant reported that net profit for the third quarter ended Dec 31 climbed 183.4 per cent to S$1.3 billion from S$465 million in the same period the year before. This was mainly attributed to a net exceptional gain of S$639 million, compared to a net exceptional loss of S$94 million in the same period the previous year. Operating revenue rose 1 per cent on year to S$3.6 billion. Shares of Singtel rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$3.33 on Tuesday, before the announcement.

Parkson Retail Asia: The department store operator posted a net profit of S$5.8 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, down 26.3 per cent from the year before. Revenue for the quarter went up by 1.4 per cent to S$58.5 million and earnings per share for its continuing operations stood at S$0.0086. Shares of Parkson Retail Asia ended flat on Tuesday at S$0.073, before the news.

Cordlife: The private cord-blood bank expects to post a loss for the 2024 fiscal year due to the financial fallout from lapses discovered in the storage of its cord-blood units two years ago. The company said that the expected loss is mainly due to the suspension of its operations in late 2023. Shares of Cordlife ended on Tuesday S$0.001 or 0.7 per cent higher at S$0.152, before the announcement.