Daily Morning Watch - 7 Aug 2012

SINGAPORE

Singapore 's government targets building at least 20,000 new public-housing apartments in 2013 with an aim to stabilize the local property market, Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said on his official weblog.

Singapore Airlines (SIA)'s unit SilkAir has appointed Leslie Thng as CEO to replace Marvin Tan, who will return to the parent company as acting senior vice president of cabin crew.

Keppel Corp (KEP) said its Offshore & Marine unit has received $4.1B confirmed orders from Sete Brasil Participacoes SA for the design and construction of 5 additional semisubmersible drilling rigs.

United Overseas Bank (UOB): 2Q results expected

US indices closed slightly higher on Monday. On the US economic data front, there was no major news. Stocks in the consumer durables & apparel and materials sectors traded higher while shares in the banks and health care equipment & services sectors were under pressure. Take a look at some major US company news, Tyson Foods (TSN -7.99% to $14.17) unveiled 3Q net income of $76M, or $0.21 a share, vs a profit of $196M a year earlier. Separately, Best Buy (BBY +13.32% to $19.99)'s founder and former Chairman, Richard Schulze submitted an offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Co that he does not already own for a price of $24 to $26 per share in cash. In other news, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) posted a 2Q adjusted EPS of $0.06 vs $0.08 expected ($0.76 a year ago) on revenue of $3.389B. The company raised its 2012 operating cash flow forecast.

In Europe , Sentix investor confidence index fell to -30.3 for August vs -29.6 the month before and 31 expected by economists. According to Halifax , UK house prices dropped 0.6% in July (-0.5% expected) vs +0.8% the month before (revised from +1%). Regarding the stocks, Richemont gained as the Co expects a jump in 1H earnings. PostNL plunged as 2q earnings missed analysts estimates. This morning, the Nikkei225 index opened broadly flat, and remains above its ST & MT MAs.

CHINA - HK

Standard Chartered (2888)'s unit Standard Chartered Bank has been accused by the New York State Department of Financial Services of scheming with Iran's government to hide over $250B in illegal transactions for nearly a decade and may lose its licence to operate in the state.

China Life Insurance (2628) issued a profit warning saying it expects a not-more-than-29.4% decrease in 1H net income compared to last year's 12.96B yuan, citing "the decline in investment yield and the increase in impairment losses resulting from the continuous depression in the capital market".

China Communications Construction (1800) said it has obtained approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its proposed domestic corporate bond issue of up to 12B yuan in China .

Yuexiu Property (123) said July contracted sales soared 807% YoY to 1.4B yuan and January-July contracted sales surged 167% to 8.5B yuan, equivalent to 85% of its annual sales target.

Shimao Property (813) reported July sales up 21.8% YoY to 4.0B yuan.

Glorious Property (845) posted July sales up 25.5% YoY to 1.2B yuan.

Citic Securities (6030) reported July net income of 327M yuan, down 8.3% MoM, on revenue of 778M yuan, down 6.3%.

Guodian Technology & Environment Group (1296) said it has gained approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue up to 4.0B yuan of corporate bonds.

China Vanke (000002) posted 1H net income up 25.1% YoY to 3.7B yuan on turnover of 30.7B yuan, up 53.7%.

Yonghui Superstores Co (601933) reported 1H net income down 28.8% YoY to 192M yuan on turnover of 11.7B yuan, up 45.9%.

Shanxi Guoyang New Energy (600348), NARI Technology Development (600406), Western Mining (601168): 2Q results expected.