SG Morning Call｜Singapore Stocks Opened Higher on Friday; Cordlife Rose 6.6% as to Resume Cord-Blood Banking Service

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Friday. STI rose 0.4%, SIA rose 0.5%, Singtel rose 1.3%, Cordlife rose 6.6%, TC Auto fell 4%.

Stocks to Watch

Singapore Airlines(SIA): The flag carrier on Friday announced it received approval from India’s government for foreign direct investment into the entity resulting from the merger of its 49 per cent-associated company, Tata SIA Airlines – operating as Vistara – and Air India. Completion of the merger is now anticipated to occur by the end of the year, added the group. Shares of SIA ended Thursday S$0.02 or 0.3 per cent lower at S$6.21.

GuocoLand: The property developer’s net profit for the second half of FY2024 ended Jun 30 fell 58 per cent to S$62.8 million, from S$148 million in the same period the year before. Revenue declined to S$752.4 million, a 15 per cent drop from S$882.9 million, said GuocoLand on Thursday. It declared a first and final dividend of S$0.06 per share. Shares of GuocoLand fell 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 to close at S$1.50.

Tan Chong International: The auto dealer posted a net loss of HK$35.9 million (S$6 million) for the first half of its 2024 fiscal year ended Jun 30 – a reversal from a net profit of HK$126.9 million over the same period the year before. Revenue dropped 9.9 per cent to HK$6.6 billion from HK$7.3 billion, said the company on Thursday. Tan Chong said it faced significant challenges in H1 due to the uncertain global economic landscape. It declared an interim dividend of HK$0.02 per ordinary share. Shares of Tan Chong dropped 0.8 per cent or HK$0.01 to close at HK$1.29.

Cordlife: The cord-blood bank will be allowed to resume cord-blood banking services “in a controlled manner” from Sep 15, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday. It added that to safeguard the interest of its customers, Cordlife will not be allowed to collect, test, process and/or store more than 30 units of new cord blood each month, from Sep 15 to Jan 13, 2025. The company was previously told to stop the collection, testing, processing and/or storage of new cord blood, after the ministry said seven of the 22 tanks at Cordlife had been exposed to temperatures above acceptable limits at different periods from November 2020. Shares of Cordlife ended at S$0.122, up 0.8 per cent or S$0.001.

IHH Healthcare: The private healthcare group posted a net profit of RM623 million (S$188.1 million) for the second quarter of FY2024 ended Jun 30. Net profit more than doubled from RM301 million for the same period the year before, on the back of strong operational performance and the positive impact of deferred tax credits, said IHH Healthcare on Thursday. Revenue grew 30 per cent to RM6.1 billion. The company recommended an interim single-tier dividend of 4.5 sen per ordinary share for the financial year ending Dec 31. Shares of IHH Healthcare closed flat at S$1.90 on Thursday.

SG Local News

Singapore property players more optimistic in Q2 on expected interest rate cuts: NUS poll

Sentiments in the property market seem to be turning for the better in the second quarter, based on a survey by the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (Ireus) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Market sentiments remained largely stable and cautiously positive as the market anticipates an improvement in economic performance in the second half of the year amid persisting global instability, said Ireus.

“The economic fundamentals here are sound, and in tandem with the upcoming easing of interest rates, we would expect overall market sentiment to improve further over time,” said Ireus’ director Professor Qian Wenlan, citing the 2.9 per cent year-on-year gross domestic product growth in Q2, based on the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s advanced estimates.

Latest Singapore 6-month T-bill cut-off yield falls to 3.13%

The cut-off yield on Singapore’s latest six-month Treasury bill (T-bill) dropped to 3.13 per cent, down from the 3.34 per cent offered in the previous six-month auction that closed on Aug 15.

Auction results released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Thursday (Aug 29) showed that demand held relatively steady in the latest tranche.

It received a total of S$16 billion in applications for the S$6.8 billion on offer, representing a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.35.