NOL Shares Surge
Shares of shipping group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) hit a nine-month high today, boosted by prospects of its logistics operations and hopes its weightage will rise in changes to the MSCI Singapore index. NOL, which is the world's sixth largest container shipper, is up 12.5 percent since the start of the year and has outperformed the benchmark Straits Times Index by 31 percent. "A lot of houses like this stock because it has been a great turnaround story. There is also speculation that it might be a beneficiary in the upcoming MSCI changes," a dealer with a Singapore brokerage said. The Singapore-based company, in which the government holds 33 percent, is a constituent stock of the MSCI index with a 1.18 percent weighting.
NOL Shares Sag On Continued Rate Woes
Shares of Neptune Orient Lines Ltd (NOL), the world's sixth largest container shipper, sank as much as 2.5 percent on Thursday morning to their lowest level since March 2000 on freight rate concerns. By the midday break, NOL had crawled back to S$1.20, down one cent, from S$1.18 in moderate trade of 2.78 million shares. Analysts said there were increased worries for its earnings due to prolonged pressure in freight rates with no short-term recovery in sight for cargo demand due to slowing economies. "People are concerned over pressures in freight rates," said Albert Goh, an analyst at Kim Eng Securities. NOL scrapped a planned share flotation and U.S. listing of its oil transportation unit last month.
Cosco 1H Net Jumps 66%
COSCO Investment (Singapore) Ltd. posted a 66 percent jump in first-half net profit to S$9.25 million ($5.27 million) on greater margins from bulk shipping and its container feeder service operations. But turnover fell 10 percent to S$78 million due mainly to the scaling down of its trading activities. Singapore-listed COSCO, a unit of China's COSCO Group, said it expected its performance in the second half to be comparable to the first as all of its business units were expected to remain profitable except for property. G.K. Goh analyst Masya Spek told reporters after the company's news conference that COSCO's shipping business performed within expectations but general trading was stronger than anticipated. "I didn't expect them to do so much general trading.
