BUSINESS TIMES: 10 Stocks to Watch (includes Oxley, Food Empire)

Today's edition of the Business Times carries a full-page article titled "10 Stocks to Watch".

Stock	Stock price (29 Dec '17)
ComfortDelGro	$1.98
Food Empire	67.5 c
FJ Benjamin	7.9 c
Keppel Corp	$7.35
Oxley Holdings	65.5 c
SembCorp Industries	$3.03
Singapore Airlines	$10.67
Singapore Exchange	$7.44
StarHub	$2.85
Thai Beverage	92 c
Source: BT

The commentaries by writer Yasmine Yahya on two of them -- Oxley Holdings and Food Empire -- are:

Oxley has had a fruitful 2017, building up its land bank here and overseas. In a span of less than 24 hours in mid-December alone, it announced three acquisitions totalling over SS1 billion. These comprise Chevron House for SS660 million, the Vista Park Collective Sale site in South Buona Vista Road for SS418 million and a residential project in Dong Nai, Vietnam.

Then just last week its Australian unit took a 25.5 per cent stake in an Australian developer. And this is not to mention the many other plots it clinched through en bloc sales and other overseas deals throughout the year. it will be interesting to see what the property developer does with its land bank in 2018 and beyond, or if it will continue on its aggressive shopping spree.

boss booth10.16 01 Food Empire chairman Tan Wang Cheow at an international F&B exhibition. Photo: CompanyRussia will be on centrestage as the host of the World Cup 2018. For some investors, this could mean it’s time to watch developments at Food Empire, which makes over 40 per cent of its revenue from Russia, RHB Securities noted in a research report: "Although instant coffee is a matured sector in Russia, we believe the uplift in economic activity aided by the World Cup would help to raise overall domestic consumption."

Moreover, it added, there is a currency mismatch between Food Empire's revenue, which is in the Russian ruble, and raw material costs, which are in US dollars. "Hence, any potential appreciation of the ruble would be a positive driver for its gross margin. Since the Crimea crisis, the board has given the group a mandate to diversify out of its core markets in the CIS (Commonwealth of independent States) region."

Already, Food Empire has made headway in Vietnam and 2018 will see it continuing to grow its presence in Myanmar and China.

For the rest, please buy a copy of BT for $1.20 at the newsstands.

BUSINESS TIMES: 10 Stocks to Watch (includes Oxley, Food Empire)

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