Keppel Land to raise $474 mln via rights issue

* Says raising funds to pursue opportunities

* Says has S$627.3 million cash, low debt-to-equity of 0.52

* Traders say rights to hurt KepLand shares, not overall mkt

(Adds details of issue)

SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Keppel Land <KLAN.SI>, Singapore's third-largest developer, said on Friday it planned to raise S$712.3 million ($474 million) via a rights offer to take advantage of opportunities in the weakened property market.

"The company believes that the current macroeconomic environment will present attractive opportunities in the real estate sector across Asia," Keppel Land said in a filing to the Singapore stock exchange.

The developer added that it was already in a "strong financial position to weather the current economic slowdown", with cash balances of S$627.3 million and a net debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52 as of March 31.

Traders said Keppel Land's fund-raising may hurt the firm's shares but was unlikely to affect the overall Singapore market given the likely boost from gains in U.S. stocks overnight and South Korea's better-than-expected first-quarter GDP numbers.

Keppel Land plans to offer nine rights shares for every 10 existing shares at S$1.09 a share, a 42 percent discount to its last traded price of S$1.88.

Oil-rig builder Keppel Corp <KPLM.SI>, Keppel Land's majority shareholder with 53 percent, will subscribe to its full entitlement of rights shares as well as underwrite 90 percent of the remaining offer, which is being managed by Merrill Lynch, according to the filing. ($1=1.503 Singapore Dollar)

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SembMarine slides on contract loss fears

April 15, 2009

    ** SEMBCORP MARINE FALLS ON ORDER CANCELLATION FEARS ** 
    Shares of Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine) <SCMN.SI>, the world's 
No. 2 oil-rig builder, fell as much as 9.4 percent on Wednesday 
after it said a large customer had been placed under provisional 
liquidation. 
    The customer, Cayman Islands-based PetroProd Ltd, had placed 
orders worth over $500 million with the Singapore firm, according 
to the Business Times. 
    Goldman Sachs reiterated on Wednesday its "conviction sell" 
on SembMarine, citing the risks of order renegotiation and 
cancellations. According to Goldman, PetroProd and related firms 
account for nearly a quarter of the Singapore firm's order book. 
    Sembcorp Marine last traded at S$2.07, down 7.2 percent. 
Rival Keppel Corp <KPLM.SI>, the world's largest rigbuilder, fell 
1.4 percent. 

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