Posts by Mark Darwin
Keppel to acquire Chennai office complex for 22 billion rupees
KEPPEL has agreed to acquire a 100 per cent stake in freehold office complex One Paramount in Chennai, India for 22 billion rupees (S$351.1 million), the global asset manager announced on Wednesday (Jul 31). The Grade A office complex, which was completed in 2022, comprises about 2.4 million square feet of gross leasable area spanning…
Read MorePBOC to change one-year loan operation date in policy shift
CHINA’S central bank is planning to move the date on which it injects one-year liquidity to domestic lenders to the 25th of each month, according to sources familiar with the matter, as part of a shift to relying primarily on a short-term interest rate to steer markets. The change will take effect as early as…
Read MoreGold scales two-week high as Fed nods to likely Sept rate cut
GOLD prices climbed to a two-week high on Thursday (Aug 1) as US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell opened the door to cutting interest rates as early as September. Spot gold was steady at US$2,448.38 per ounce, as at 0217 GMT, after hitting its highest level since Jul 18 earlier in the session. Prices were…
Read MoreSingapore shares fall at Thursday’s open; STI down 0.4%
SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Thursday (Aug 1) morning, despite US and Europe indices rallying overnight. The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 12.45 points to 3,443.49 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 74 to 44, after 59.4 million securities worth S$94.1 million changed hands. Agri-food company…
Read MoreKeppel H1 profit from continuing operations up 7% at S$513 million
Its board of directors is proposing a tax exempt one-tier interim cash dividend of S$0.15 per share KEPPEL posted a 7 per cent increase in net profit to S$513 million for the first half ended Jun 30, from S$481 million in the previous corresponding period. However, its total net profit for H1 was down…
Read MoreChina’s robotaxi dreams spark economic anxiety over AI’s threat
ON A recent summer night in central China, a couple on a motorcycle swerved in front of a driverless cab, forcing the vehicle to brake rapidly. At an intersection, it hesitantly performed a three-point turn, careful to avoid a man with a bike gawking at the new technology from the roadside. Welcome to Wuhan, the…
Read MoreQualcomm gives bullish forecast after phone demand perks up
QUALCOMM, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave a strong revenue forecast for the current period, indicating that demand for phones is rebounding. Revenue in the quarter ending in September will be US$9.5 billion to US$10.3 billion, the company said on Wednesday (Jul 31). Analysts had estimated US$9.7 billion on average. The latest results…
Read MoreDistributable income is better metric for assessing Keppel Infrastructure Trust’s performance
I REFER to the article “Keppel Infrastructure Trust reverses into the red with a loss of S$23.9 million in H1 2024” (BT, Jul 26), which highlights profit after tax (PAT), a metric that is not as relevant to a business trust such as Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT). As investors in a business trust, KIT’s unitholders…
Read MorePlantation business powers Indofood Agri Resources’ H1 net profit to 297.9 billion rupiah
INDOFOOD Agri Resources posted a net profit of 297.9 billion rupiah (S$24.5 million) for the first half ended Jun 30, up 236 per cent from the 88.6 billion rupiah posted in the year-ago period. The improved profitability came mainly from higher gross profit from the plantation division, higher gains on biological assets, foreign-exchange gains and…
Read MoreYen leaps after BOJ decision, month-end keeps currency markets nervy
THE yen hit its strongest in over four months on Wednesday (Jul 31), as Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Kazuo Ueda flagged the possibility of more rate hikes after the central bank raised interest rates and unveiled a plan to taper its huge bond-buying programme. The yen strengthened by as much as 1.8 per cent,…
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