SG Morning Call | Singapore Stocks Open Higher on Monday; JMH USD, CityDev, ThaiBev, YZJ Fin Hldg, Sembcorp up over 1%; SIA Engineering, SGX, Seatrium up Within 1%

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Monday. STI rose 0.1%; JMH USD, CityDev, ThaiBev, YZJ Fin Hldg, Sembcorp up over 1%; SIA Engineering, SGX, Seatrium up within 1%.

Stocks in Focus

$Jardine Matheson(J36.SI)$: The Hong Kong-based conglomerate said in a bourse filing on Friday that its performance for the third quarter of 2025 was “in line with expectations at the half-year” and that its full-year profit guidance was unchanged. The company said it “continued to de-lever” its parent balance sheet and had a net debt of US$25 million at the end of October after receipt and payment of dividends. Shares of Jardine Matheson fell 1.7 per cent to close US$1.10 lower US$62.15 on Friday, before the update.

$Mandarin Oriental(M04.SI)$: The hotel group, which is undergoing a privatisation bid from its majority shareholder Jardine Matheson, posted a “stable” underlying net profit for the third quarter of 2025 ended Sep 30, compared to a year ago. The group on Friday (Nov 21) also reported “marginal” growth in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, though it did not provide specific figures. Shares of Mandarin Oriental ended flat at US$3.29 on Friday, before the news.

$BRC Asia(BEC.SI)$: The steel solutions provider on Sunday posted a 5 per cent dip in net profit for H2 to S$52.2 million, from S$55 million in the same year-ago period. Revenue increased 16 per cent to S$837.4 million during the period, from S$723.1 million the year before. The group said this was mainly driven by stronger project offtake in H2. The board is also proposing a final cash dividend of S$0.07, down from S$0.08 in 2024. This is on top of a special dividend of S$0.07, up from S$0.06 last year. The total dividend is S$0.20, including the S$0.06 interim dividend for 2025. Shares of BRC Asia closed 2 per cent or S$0.08 lower at S$4.02 on Friday before the earnings release. 

$Lum Chang Creations(LCC.SI)$: The urban revitalisation specialist on Monday said its wholly owned subsidiary, Lum Chang Interior, clinched two contracts with a combined value of around S$63.4 million. The contract wins are a project awarded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and another from Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. The 30-month contract from MSF is valued at S$31.9 million, while the church project is worth S$31.5 million. The counter closed 1 per cent or S$0.005 lower at S$0.48 on Friday before the news.

SG Local News

Address Concerns over AI’s Impact on Jobs and Livelihoods, and Help Workers Adjust: PM Lawrence Wong

Amid all the innovation brought about by artificial intelligence (AI), a key challenge for governments everywhere is to address concerns about jobs and livelihoods, and help workers adjust, said Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday (Nov 23).

AI is evolving rapidly, with tremendous potential to improve and transform lives, he pointed out, and the world is still in the early stages of the AI journey, one marked by great excitement and massive investments.

Governments should be clear-eyed and look beyond the hype, he said, speaking at a working session with leaders of the world’s biggest economies.

More than 6 in 10 retail investors in Singapore hold crypto, but allocation size conservative: survey

Sixty-one per cent of retail investors in Singapore own cryptocurrency, but crypto allocation remains low, as crypto makes up less than 10 per cent of most portfolios.

These findings were reported by SingSaver and Coinbase’s first ever joint report, Pulse of Crypto Survey, which surveyed 3,513 active retail investors and members of the "wider crypto-curious public" in Singapore in August this year.

Their report noted that 74 per cent of crypto holders allocate less than 10 per cent of their assets in crypto.

Singapore Probe Into Alleged Prince Scam Ring Widens With Raid

Singapore authorities raided a car loan company that borrowed from a firm connected to Prince Holding Group, as the net widens on those linked to the alleged scam organization and its chair Chen Zhi.

The premises of Singapore-registered SRS Auto Holdings Pte. was raided by police last week, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified disclosing sensitive information. The sole proprietor of SRS, Tan Yew Kiat, was arrested, they said.