Phillip Securities has raised its target price for Singapore-listed shipbuilder Cosco Corp (COSC.SI) to $2.68 from $2.32 and maintained its “buy” rating.

According to DBS Vickers, Cosco Corp could benefit from the restructuring of its parent Cosco Group, which may inject two of its shipbuilding assets into the Singapore-listed unit.

But Cosco Corp said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday that it is not in talks with any party for an asset injection.

Phillip Securities said that despite Cosco Corp’s announcement, there is a possibility of restructuring that will benefit Cosco Corp because the firm will be bigger in size and gain a better position to compete with other shipyards globally.

The time is also appropriate as Cosco Corp has been reporting better quarterly financial results in its 2010 fiscal year, on top of winning contracts worth $2.7 billion in 2010 for dry bulk vessels and oil rigs, the brokerage added.

“We expect Cosco to win new orders of $3.8 billion in 2011. At the same, it has been working to reduce the time required to build new vessels, which should improve its gross profit margin,” Phillip said in a report.

However, the brokerage cautioned that Cosco Corp faces the problem of an appreciation of the yuan against the US Dollar as most of its contracts are in USD, adding that labour and steel costs have also increased.

At 09:02 a.m., Cosco Corp shares were up 0.4% at $2.34 on a volume of 205,000 shares.

The following companies may have unusual price changes in Singapore trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 1.1% to 3,205.48.

Ascott Residence Trust (ART SP): The serviced apartment operator partly owned by CapitaLand (CAPL SP) said fourth- quarter distributable income doubled to $23.9 million from $11.5 million a year ago. The stock lost 0.8% to $1.22.

ComfortDelGro Corp. (CD SP): The biggest operator of taxis and busses in Singapore was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura Holdings Inc. The brokerage said it also increased its share-price estimate to $1.98 from $1.70. ComfortDelGro slid 1.8% to $1.60.

Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (KPTT SP): The provider of logistics and telecommunications support services said full-year profit rose 17% to $62.1 million. The shares gained 0.7% to $1.42.

K-REIT Asia (KREIT SP): The office landlord partly owned by Keppel Land (KPLD SP) said fourth-quarter distributable income increased 19% to $23.2 million from a year ago. The stock was unchanged at $1.44.

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT SP): The Singapore-based industrial landlord said it will distribute $36.8 million of its income for the fourth quarter, compared with $31.8 million a year ago. The shares lost 0.5% to 98 cents.

Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE SP): Asia’s biggest aircraft maintenance company said its aerospace division won maintenance orders worth $320 million in the fourth quarter of last year. ST Engineering, as the company is known, slid 1.5% to $3.29.

Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (SUN SP): The property trust partly owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing will release its full-year results after market close today. The stock dropped 1.3% to $1.55.

CIMB in a Jan 14 research report says: "Supported by economic growth, strong tourist arrivals and rising costs of car ownership with recent spikes in COE premiums, ComfortDelgro’s local land-transport operations should continue to grow this year.

"No change to our earnings estimates. We continue to like ComfortDelgro for its steady domestic outlook and overseas growth potential. A strong balance sheet and steady cash flows should also allow it to take advantage of any M&A opportunities. Trading at 13.5x CY11 P/E against SMRT’s 18.3x, we continue to recommend a switch from SMRT to ComfortDelgro.

"We keep our DCF-based target price of $1.90 (WACC: 8.0%), expecting catalysts from an improving outlook and a potential Downtown Line tender win. MAINTAIN OUTPERFORM."