SingPost appoints Drew & Napier as joint special auditor with PwC

By

Melissa Tanmelissat@sph.com.sg@MelissaTanBT

FEB 5, 20167:35 PM

AFTER facing public pressure over its appointment of its longstanding external auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), as its special auditor for a corporate governance probe, Singapore Post has decided to name another firm to jointly do this special audit with PwC.

The joint special auditor will be law firm Drew & Napier (D&N), SingPost said in a bourse filing on Friday evening, adding that Drew & Napier's "scope of work and detailed terms of reference will be the same as the scope of work and terms of reference of PwC in respect of the special audit".

"The board made its decision to appoint D&N as joint independent special auditor after taking into consideration the concerns that had been expressed by some media commentators and shareholders, and feedback that the company has received from shareholders, the public and the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited," the postal and e-commerce group said in its statement.

The partner leading the joint investigation into SingPost's corporate governance at Drew & Napier is Senior Counsel Hri Kumar, SingPost said, adding that its board has ascertained, and Drew & Napier has confirmed, that the law firm and Mr Kumar "have no actual or perceived conflict which would affect their ability to carry out the independent special audit".

SingPost shares rose S$0.035 to S$1.38 on Friday before its announcement.

    
 

CapitaLand unit to divest a Beijing serviced apartment

By

Kalpana Rashiwalakalpana@sph.com.sg@KalpanaBT

FEB 5, 20166:30 PM

PROPERTY group CapitaLand said that its wholly-owned unit, The Ascott Holdings, has on Friday entered into a sale and purchase agreement to dispose of its entire equity interest in a wholly-owned subsidiary, which in turn fully owns another company, the sole asset of which is a serviced apartment property in Beijing.

The sale is for a cash consideration of S$125 million.

The buyer is Hong Kong Qianhai Zhongjin Group Co.

In a statutory filing with Singapore Exchange, CapitaLand said the sale is part of its ongoing strategy to enhance capital productivity and strengthen its capability to pursue other projects and enhance returns for its shareholders.

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6.3% jump in Singtel helps push STI up 2.5%

By

R. Sivanithysivan@sph.com.sg@RSivanithyBT

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

FEB 5, 20165:28 PM

AND so it goes on. It was yet another volatile week for the Straits Times Index as it danced in tandem with rises and falls in oil prices, the Dow futures, and to a slightly lesser extent, stock prices in Hong Kong and Shanghai - extending a run of volatility that stretches back many months. On Friday, thanks to a heavy push on Singtel that added 20 points to the STI, the index gained 64.72 points or 2.5 per cent at 2,623.21, enabling it to reduce its loss for the week to just 6 points.

Despite the index's seemingly strong bounce, few dealers were impressed, reporting instead that activity was "very quiet". Singtel's S$0.22 or 6.3 per cent surge to S$3.70 came with 47.7 million traded and no query from the Singapore Exchange.

Complicating the picture and no doubt adding to the swings were heightened short-selling and short-covering. According to a CNBC report on Wednesday, shorting in the Singapore market in January amounted to S$5.6 billion, about 25 per cent of total volume and up from December's S$3.2 billion.

Using data from Credit Suisse, the report said the highest short-selling volume was for Wilmar, Golden Agri, SembCorp Industries and Keppel Corp - not surprising, given the weakness in commodity and oil prices.

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On the downside early in the week was news that China's manufacturing continues to contract, adding to worries of a global slowdown at a time when the US is raising interest rates - or at least that was what it planned to continue doing when it raised rates in December.