Growth in revenue and earnings helps to drive share prices higher in the long run.
Companies may, from time to time, announce interesting business developments that help to boost their business prospects.
Investors should watch for such news to filter out interesting stocks to dig deeper into.
These stocks could also form a potential buy watchlist that you can keep by your side if you need investment ideas.
Here are four stocks that recently announced interesting business developments.
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited (SGX: C52)
ComfortDelGro Corporation, or CDG, is one of the largest land transport companies in the world.
The group operates a total fleet size of 34,000 buses, taxis, and rental vehicles along with 210 km of rail network in operation and under development.
Last week, CDG announced that its joint venture with Go-Ahead Group, Connecting Stockholm, was awarded an 11-year contract by the Stockholm Public Transport Administration to operate and maintain the Stockholm Metro. CDG holds a 45% stake in Connecting Stockholm.
Commencing in May 2025, this contract entails the operation and maintenance of all of Stockholm Metro’s seven lines, including 100 stations, six depots, and 107 km of track.
As the appointed rail operator, Connecting Stockholm oversees customer service, the planning and delivery of rail services, and fleet, station, and depot maintenance.
The contract also provides leeway for project support should the Stockholm Metro further develop and expand in the future.
Both CDG and Go-Ahead have strong track records in managing sustainable public transportation.
Go-Ahead Group is the majority owner of Govia Thameslink Railway, the UK’s largest rail network, and also has rail operations in Norway and bus services in Sweden.
CDG operates rail services in Singapore through SBS Transit Ltd (SGX: S61) and also Auckland One Rail in New Zealand.
With this contract, CDG’s total rail network has increased to over 310 km.
Sembcorp Industries Ltd (SGX: U96)
Sembcorp Industries Ltd, or SCI, is an energy and urban solutions provider.
The blue-chip group has a balanced energy portfolio of 20.5 GW with a gross renewable capacity of 13 GW comprising wind, solar, and energy storage.
SCI has been announcing regular business developments that help to build its business and advance its Investor Day goal of increasing its renewables portfolio.
Just last week, the group was awarded a 450 MW wind-solar hybrid project in India.
This build-own-operate project is part of a 2 GW bid issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to develop wind-solar hybrid projects throughout India.
Upon completion, the power output will be sold to SECI under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
This project is slated to be ready for commercial operation within two years from the signing of the PPA and will be financed via internal funds and debt.
With this award, SCI’s global gross renewables capacity will rise to 13.5 GW, including 473 MW of acquisitions pending completion.
UMS Holdings Ltd (SGX: 558)
UMS provides equipment manufacturing and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of semiconductors and related products.
Last week, UMS conducted a private placement of 40 million shares at a placement price of S$1.29 per share to raise net proceeds of around S$49.9 million.
The placement price was fixed at a 7% discount to the volume-weighted average price of S$1.3862.
This placement is intended to strengthen the group’s financial position and allow it to capitalise on growth opportunities.
Three reasons were given – the funding of capital expenditures for growth, general working capital, and future spending on business developments.
The private placement drew a strong response from investors and was oversubscribed by 2.55 times.
UMS recently released a downbeat set of earnings as the semiconductor downturn drags on.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2023 (9M 2023) fell by 17% year on year to S$226.4 million while net profit tumbled 46% year on year to S$44.3 million.
The equipment services firm, however, upped its interim dividend from S$0.01 to S$0.012.
iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY)
iFAST is a financial technology company that operates a platform for the buying and selling of securities such as unit trusts, equities, and bonds.
Last month, the group announced that its Malaysian subsidiary Bondsupermart has obtained in-principle approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia to operate a bond marketplace.
This marketplace will be named Bondsupermart and aims to act as a centralised exchange for the buying and selling of bonds.
Individual investors will contribute actively to real-time price discovery and transparency based on supply-demand dynamics.
Management believes that bond returns have become more attractive because of the surge in interest rates in the past two years, thus making this asset class figure more prominently in investors’ portfolios.
Bondsupermart is expected to commence operations in the second half of this year.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of iFAST Corporation Limited.
