- ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
SINGAPORE: Shares of CapitaLand Investment (CLI) rose last week, after the Singapore-headquartered asset manager and Malaysian developer Coronade Properties announced a mall project in Johor on Nov 24.
They closed on Nov 28 at $2.65, up 1.92 per cent for the week.
The project, called Coronation Square Mall, will be connected to the Bukit Chagar RTS Link station, which is expected to open at the end of 2026. Construction of the mall will begin in 2026 and is slated to be completed in 2029.
With a gross floor area of 1.2 million sq ft, the mall has been touted by CLI and Coronade as the Johor city centre’s “largest retail landmark”.
It will sit within a larger integrated development by Coronade that includes commercial office space, a residential development and a hotel managed by CLI subsidiary Ascott.
Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) fell after it reported a 6.8 per cent decline in full-year net profit to 25.4 billion baht (S$1.02 billion) for the year ended Sept 30, down from 27.2 billion baht a year earlier.
The company attributed the decline to “increased investments in brand-building and new product launches… (as well as) increased operating expenses from restaurant expansion”.
ThaiBev’s revenue fell 2.1 per cent to 333.3 billion baht for FY2025, from 340.3 billion baht a year earlier. The group said the decline reflected macroeconomic challenges that had softened consumer sentiment across key markets.
Shares of ThaiBev closed on Nov 28 at 46 cents, down 1.06 per cent for the week.
Wilmar International closed on Nov 28 at $3.24, down just 0.31 per cent for the week despite some courtroom drama.
In updates provided on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) earlier in the week, Wilmar revealed that Guangzhou Yihai, the China subsidiary of Wilmar’s Shenzhen-listed unit Yihai Kerry Arawana (YKA), was found guilty of contract fraud by a Chinese court. YKA, which is 89.99 per cent owned by Wilmar, was ordered to jointly bear losses amounting to 1.88 billion yuan (S$344.3 million).
Wilmar International chairman and chief executive Kuok Khoon Hong said he was deeply shocked and that it was “absolutely inconceivable” for the group to jeopardise its longstanding commitment in China or “tarnish the strong reputation the Kuok family has built over decades”.
Mr Kuok added in a bourse filing on Nov 22 that the group would not do so “for the sake of such a minor potential benefit and by assisting in defrauding a state-owned enterprise”.
“If I had truly done such a thing, I believe my uncle, Robert Kuok, would expel me from the Kuok family even before any punishment from Chinese judicial authorities,” he said, referring to the Malaysian business magnate.
Its subsidiary has lodged an appeal in a Chinese court, Wilmar said on Nov 28. - The Straits Times/ANN
