SGX Weekly Review | STI Rises 2.8%; Sea Ltd Soars 22%; DBS Group Jumps 7.6%

Singapore stocks rose 2.79% this week, boosted by a series of positive economic data. Non-domestic exports far exceeded economists’ estimates to climb 15.7 per cent in July, as both electronics and non-electronics exports grew. Moreover, Singapore narrowed its GDP growth forecast for 2024 to 2% to 3% from a previous range of 1% to 3%, as per data released by Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Market News

$Sea Ltd(SE)$ Surges 22% after Topping Profit Estimates

Shares of Sea Limited soared 21.52% this week. Sea Ltd. reported second-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates, after it continued to attract online shoppers in Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing e-commerce market.

The Singapore-based company swung back into the black with a net income of about $80 million after losses in the preceding three quarters, it said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts estimated $60 million on average. Sales also beat projections, rising 23% to $3.8 billion.

$Grab Holdings(GRAB)$ Misses Quarterly Revenue Estimates, Shares Drop

Grab Holdings missed second-quarter revenue estimates as demand faltered in its ride-share and food-delivery services, sending its U.S.-listed shares down more than 7% after earnings report on Thursday. For the week, shares dropped 2.16%.

Revenue rose 17% to $664 million in the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts' estimates of $673.3 million, according to LSEG data. Sales from the food delivery business - its largest - grew 11% to $356 million, lower than Visible Alpha estimates of $362.1 million. Ride-share revenue grew a worse-than-expected 14%.

$DBS(D05.SI)$ Stock Rises 7.6% After Picking First Female CEO of Top Bank

DBS Group shares rose 7.6% this week. The bank announced last Wednesday the appointment of Tan Su Shan as its deputy chief executive officer. She will succeed Piyush Gupta as CEO when he retires at the next annual general meeting on Mar 28, 2025. Tan will be the first female CEO in the lender’s history.

$ST Engineering(S63.SI)$'s H1 Profit Rises 19.9% to S$336.5 Million

Singapore Technologies Engineering's (ST Engineering) net profit for the first half ended Jun 30, 2024, grew 19.9 per cent year on year (yoy) to S$336.5 million, from S$280.6 million previously. Shares of ST Engineering gained 8.06% for the week.

Earnings per share for the period stood at S$0.108, up from S$0.0901 in the same period the year before. The group’s board has approved a second interim dividend of S$0.04 per share to be paid out on Sep 5.

ST Engineering’s higher profitability for H1 came on the back of a 13.5 per cent surge in revenue to S$5.5 billion, versus S$4.9 billion in H1 FY2023.

$YZJ Shipbldg(BS6.SI)$ Stock Gains 3.6% as Net Profit Soars 77% YoY

YZJ Shipbldg SGD on Monday posted a net profit of 3.1 billion yuan (S$553.7 million) for the six months ended Jun 30, representing a year-on-year increase of 77.2 per cent. Revenue had gone up 15.3 per cent to 13 billion yuan, attributed to the strong performance of its shipbuilding business.

The Week Ahead

Singapore's Core Inflation Set to Cool in July

Moneytary Authority of Singapore(MAS) will release core inflation data in July on Friday, August 23. Core inflation slows to 2.9% in June, a level last seen in March 2022.

The MAS noted that core inflation is set to cool sharply in Q4, averaging between 2.5–3.5% in 2024 as a whole.

United Overseas Bank analysts Jester Koh and Peter Chia expect the MAS to start its policy easing cycle later this year:

“In the case of imported inflation, any reacceleration, particularly in the ‘food and live animals’ component could slow the progress of disinflation given food has a significant weight of 21.1% in the overall CPI basket.

Sats will Release Quarterly Results on Tuesday, Aug 20

$Sats(S58.SI)$ will release Q1FY2025 results on Tuesday, Aug 20. The airport service company swung back to black, posting a $56.4m profit attributable to owners in FY24.

The airport service company attributed its improved financial performance in FY24 to record revenue of $5.1b, propelled by robust aviation sector recovery and consolidation with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS).

Breaking down by business segment, SATS reported a 354.8% YoY higher Gateway Services revenue of $4.0b and a 27.4% YoY Food Solutions revenue of $1.1b.