Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened lower on Friday. STI fell 0.1%; Nio fell 4.3%; Sembcorp fell 4.1%; SIA fell 1%.
Stocks to Watch
SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES LTD: A deal inked by one of Sembcorp Industries’ subsidiaries to import natural gas from Indonesia has fallen through after regulatory approval was not obtained. The agreement between Sembcorp Gas, West Natuna Exploration, Empyrean Energy and Coro Energy Duyung to import up to 111 billion British thermal units per day of piped natural gas from the Mako gas fields in Indonesia was first announced in September 2023, with gas delivery set to commence from 2026, but Indonesia regulatory approval was not received. Sembcorp said on Thursday that the announcement is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings and net tangible assets per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025. Shares of Sembcorp Industries closed 0.7 per cent or S$0.04 higher at S$6.09 on Thursday, before the announcement.
SingPost: Of the shareholders who voted in favour of the sale of the Australian logistics business Freight Management Holdings (FMH) on Thursday, 99.9 per cent supported the divestment. The sale of the business to Australian private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners will reap A$775.9 million in gross proceeds and a capital gain of about S$289.5 million. SingPost’s board said that it will consider paying a special dividend with the proceeds. The sale of FMH now leaves the group with the Singapore postal and e-commerce logistics business and the international e-commerce logistics business. The board announced plans to invest S$30 million to install a new, fully automated e-commerce parcel sorting equipment at its regional e-commerce logistics hub in Tampines by mid-2026. It will also vacate some 83,000 sq ft of lettable industrial space at the SingPost Centre in Paya Lebar. SingPost shares settled 2.7 per cent or S$0.015 higher at S$0.565 on Thursday, after the proceedings ended.
ESR-REIT: The trust has priced S$125 million in subordinated perpetual securities at 5.75 per cent under its S$750 million multicurrency debt issuance programme. The net proceeds arising from the issue of the securities will be used to refinance or repay existing borrowings or to finance or refinance ESR-Reit’s acquisitions and investments, the Reit’s manager said on Thursday.
Holders will receive distributions in arrears and may redeem the perpetual securities on the first reset date of Mar 20, 2030, or any distribution payment date falling after the first reset date. The distribution rate will be reset on the first reset date and every five years thereafter, at a rate equal to the Singapore Overnight Rate Average Overnight Indexed Swap plus the initial spread of 3.512 per cent. Units of ESR-Reit closed up 2.1 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.245 on Thursday before the announcement.
CityDev: CDL shares are worth further watching after they surged on Thursday following news on Wednesday night that executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng will be discontinuing his lawsuit against his son and CEO Sherman Kwek and six other members of the CDL board. The counter ended Thursday up 3 per cent or S$0.15 at S$5.09.
Trading halt: Heavy lifting service provider Sin Heng Mach called for a trading halt on Friday morning, pending the release of an announcement. The counter closed Thursday 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.545.
JPMorgan on Wednesday upgraded its rating on Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) to “neutral” from “underweight”, on the back of declining Treasury yields. JPMorgan’s top picks include CapitaLand Ascendas Reit, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) and Keppel DC Reit. For retail and industrial, DBS Group Research’s picks include CICT, FCT, Keppel Reit, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Parkway Life Reit.
SG Local News
Singapore to Collaborate with US Businesses Amid Rising Protectionism: DPM Gan
Singapore will work with US companies invested here to improve the lives of Singaporeans and Americans, said Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong on March 13.
DPM Gan told the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmChamSG) that the two countries must work closely to seek win-win outcomes amid rising economic nationalism and protectionism.
“This is why Singapore will continue to work with like-minded partners to strengthen the international, rules-based trading order... for continued growth in trade and investment,” he added, noting that it is now more important than ever for like-minded countries and businesses to redouble their efforts in mutually beneficial collaboration.
Speaking at the launch of a newly expanded AmChamSG hub in Shaw Centre, he noted there are some 6,000 US companies in Singapore, many of which use the country “as a base to sell American products and services to the region”.
“At the same time, there are currently over 250 Singapore companies in around 45 states in the US, and despite our size, we are the third-largest Asian investor in the US, after Japan and South Korea.”
The income generated by US companies from investments in Singapore almost doubled to US$51.4 billion (S$68.5 billion) from 2020 to 2023, based on US government data.
UBS Sets Up Wealth Teams in Singapore for Australia and Japan
UBS Group AG has established offshore desks to cater to its clients in Australia and Japan, according to the bank’s Asia-Pacific wealth management co-head.
Domestic wealth in markets such as Japan and Australia is growing, Young Jin Yee said at the FT wealth management forum in Singapore on Thursday. The new teams give customers options for services in Singapore, on top of the bank’s existing operations in both countries, Young said.
The move comes as UBS doubles down in a region that it has long seen as key to its wealth-management ambitions. Newly-installed UBS global co-head of wealth management, Iqbal Khan, who relocated from Zurich to Hong Kong, has reflected on the importance of Asia Pacific.
Tech Firm Oracle Answers Singapore’s Call for AI Centres of Excellence
An initiative set up here by tech firm Oracle to help enterprises implement artificial intelligence (AI) projects had swift results when it teamed with car-sharing firm GetGo.
The start-up was keen to develop an AI model that identifies damage on its rental cars through pictures sent in by customers. The task would have taken a year or more, but that all changed when its executives began bouncing ideas around with Oracle managers in 2024.
Oracle sent its experts to train and work with the GetGo data and technical teams to set up the operating environment and pick the right model.
Much of the work, which was carried out at Oracle’s first AI Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific, soon produced fruitful results.
Shein Remains Committed to IPO as Firm Weathers US Tariff Storm
Shein’s executive chairman said he remains committed to plans to take the fast-fashion retailer public despite being in the cross hairs of President Donald Trump’s campaign to rebalance global trade.
Donald Tang, a former Bear Stearns banker, said in an interview that a listing would help earn public trust and increase transparency of Shein, which has been accused of tolerating labor violations among its Chinese suppliers.
Tang was in London to talk about Shein weeks after investors said the company should cut its valuation by more than two-thirds to about $30 billion. He declined to comment on Shein’s valuation.
