Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened lower on Friday. STI fell 0.14%, iFast rose 4.5%, DBS bank rose 0.38%, CapitaLand Invest fell 1.14%, Keppel fell 0.73%.
Stocks to Watch
CapitaLand Investment (CLI): The real estate investment manager on Friday reported total revenue of S$650 million for Q1, down 0.2 per cent year on year from S$651 million. While fee-income-related business revenue rose 7 per cent to S$274 million, its real estate investment business revenue fell 4 per cent to S$430 million on asset divestments and lower tech demand that affected revenue from its lodging platform, Synergy. CLI closed on Thursday S$0.02 or 0.8 per cent down at S$2.63.
Great Eastern: The insurance company’s chairman, Soon Tit Koon, appealed for shareholders to remain patient in response to repeated shareholder comments on the decline in Great Eastern’s total shareholder returns. At the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday, he said the board has already taken measures to boost returns such as changing its dividend policy to pay out dividends half yearly, and targeting a full-year payout based on the sustainable profit level of the insurer. Shares of Great Eastern closed 0.7 per cent or S$0.12 higher at S$18.62 on Thursday.
Mapletree Industrial Trust(MIT): The group on Thursday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0336 for the fourth quarter ended Mar 31, up 0.9 per cent from S$0.0333 in the corresponding year-ago period. Its distributable income for the quarter rose 4.4 per cent to S$95.2 million from S$91.2 million, due to higher net property income and higher distribution declared by its joint venture, Mapletree Rosewood Data Centre Trust. Units of MIT closed 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$2.27, before the results release.
Sheng Siong: The supermarket chain posted a 9.3 per cent rise in net profit to S$36.3 million for its first quarter ended Mar 31, from S$33.2 million the year before. Revenue for the quarter rose 5.5 per cent to S$376.2 million from S$356.5 million, driven mainly by higher same store sales, said the group on Thursday. The counter closed at S$1.54, up 0.7 per cent or S$0.01, before the results.
iFast: The financial services company on Thursday recorded a 387.4 per cent spike in net profit to S$14.5 million for its first quarter ended Mar 31, up from S$3 million previously. iFast said this was driven by contributions from its ePension business unit, as well as improvements in its core wealth management platform business. Revenue for the quarter rose 53.1 per cent to S$78.8 million, from S$51.5 million. Shares of iFast ended S$0.09 or 1.3 per cent lower at S$6.94, before the news.
OUE: The real estate and healthcare group has won a tender for the lease and development of a new hotel to be located at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2. The group expects the hotel, which will be called Hotel Indigo Changi Airport, to be completed and fully operational by 2028, it said on Friday. Shares of OUE closed flat at S$1.07 on Thursday.
Far East Orchard: The property group’s student housing subsidiary has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Homes For Students, a purpose-built student accommodation operator based in the United Kingdom, for £17.6 million (S$30 million). The group said on Thursday it purchased the stake in Homes For Students’ issued and paid-up share capital from two non-management sellers. Shares of Far East Orchard closed 1 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$1, before the announcement.
SG Local News
Singapore Central Office Rents Dip 1.7%: URA Q1 Report
Singapore office rents in central region fall 1.7 per cent in Q1 over Q4: URA.
“Currency Advantage” Driving Down Singapore Sake Sales
Sake exports to Singapore in 2023 were just 64.9% of what they were in 2022, according to official figures by the Japan Sake and Shochu Association. This is despite a major spike in 2022, when sales of Japan’s national drink to Singapore were 393.8% up on the year before.
However, this is all down to a current “currency advantage”, according to Patrick Sng, who presented a talk entitled ‘Sip the Future: Expert Insights and Strategies for the Wine and Spirits Trade’ at ProWine Singapore this week.
S’Pore Microchip Firms See Growth and Investment Boom
Singapore is poised to emerge as a critical supplier and processing node for semiconductors that can handle the vast computing and memory needs of running generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) applications on devices as compact as smartphones.
As the global market for gen AI products – encompassing both hardware and software – enters a widely expected boom over the next few years, chipmakers here in Singapore and elsewhere are looking to increase their production capacity and broaden their talent pool.
Baltimore’s Trapped Ships Start Leaving as New Channel Opens
Four of seven ships trapped in Baltimore Harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last month have cleared the wreckage and are en route to their destinations.
The Balsa 94, a general cargo ship that sails under Panama’s flag, was first to leave the Port of Baltimore and pass the bridge’s remains, according to Bloomberg ship tracking and the Unified Command Joint Information Center. It was followed by the Saimaagracht cargo vessel, the Carmen vehicle carrier and the Phatra Naree bulk carrier.
Officials in Baltimore established a temporary channel so essential ships can traverse the harbor for the first time since the Singapore-flagged ship Dali collided with the bridge on March 26. The new, 35-foot-deep (11 meters) channel — deeper than previous channels ranging from 11 to 20 feet — will be open between April 25 and April 29, pending inclement weather. Salvage operations are still in progress.
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