4QFY2019 results

“SingPost has struggled to make meaningful operating profits from logistics largely due to competitive pressures which have resulted in tight operating margins,” explains DBS analyst Sachin Mittal, citing ‘intense' competition in Hong Kong.

As SingPost's full-year earnings surge 380% to $91.1 million, the group says the Covid-19 pandemic has presented opportunities that might otherwise never have surfaced.

SATS says it is now expecting its profits for the quarter to plunge by approximately 60% to 70% compared to last year. This will correspondingly result in a reduction of up to 25% for the group’s full-year results.

The brokerage notes that MINT has been improving portfolio quality through strategic moves in the data centre space. Analysts are positive on acquisitions such 18 Tai Seng, Paya Lebar iPark and two portfolios of data centers in the US.

Although the managers claim EHT has “sufficient funds” to pay out the distribution in full, the managers have decided to defer any action to pay the funds for settlement of the distribution for now.

The group is recommending a dividend of 10 cents per ordinary share, comprising a first and final dividend of eight cents per share and a special dividend of two cents per share.

“Our thesis that UMS is a beneficiary of the upswing in semiconductor capex, which is still in the early stages, appears playing out,” says Maybank Kim Eng analyst Lai Gene Lih.

Straits Trading's full-year earnings increased 17.6% y-o-y to $84.4 million, representing the highest earnings recorded by the group since FY2014.

The shift to a product mix with higher concentration in semiconductor system integrated sales had resulted in lower margins for the group.

“Our positive view on Singapore banks rest on their attractive dividend yields of above 5%, which differentiate them from their regional peers,” says UOB Kay Hian lead analyst Jonathan Koh.