Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened lower on Monday. STI fell 0.1%, SIA fell 0.2%, DBS rose 0.3%, OCBC rose 0.4%, SingTel fell 0.4%, Seatrium fell 1.1%, Japfa rose 7.
Stocks to Watch
Sembcorp Industries (U96): India’s SJVN, a state-owned power producer, has awarded a 440 megawatt (MW) wind-solar hybrid power project to Sembcorp Industries’ wholly owned renewables subsidiary.
The build-own-operate project is part of a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) bid issued by SJVN in September 2023. Power generated from the project will be sold to the power producer under a 25-year power purchase agreement, Sembcorp said on Monday (Mar 11).
It expects the project to be commercially ready for operation within 24 months of signing the power purchase agreement. It will also fund the project through a mix of internal funds and debt.
City Developments (C09): The property developer City Developments (CDL) on Friday initiated share buybacks for its ordinary shares on the open market at an average price of S$5.75 a share for a total consideration of S$5.5 million. Its group chief executive said the discounted price presented an “attractive opportunity” to deploy the company’s capital in its portfolio. Prior to its announcement, shares of CDL closed 1.2 per cent or S$0.07 higher at S$5.75.
CapitaLand Ascott Trust (HMN): The managers of CapitaLand Ascott Real Estate Investment Trust (CapitaLand Ascott Reit) and CapitaLand Ascott Business Trust said on Friday (Mar 8) that Ascott Reit MTN – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the trustee of CapitaLand Ascott Reit – has issued S$120 million of 3.69 per cent notes due Mar 15, 2029.
The notes are issued under its S$2 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme established in September 2009 and amended in July 2020.
The payment obligations of Ascott Reit under the notes will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by DBS Trustee, in its capacity as trustee of CapitaLand Ascott Reit.
Japfa (UD2): The agri-food company Japfa on Monday said it refused to comment on speculations about a privatisation deal in a Mar 8 Bloomberg article. It said its key shareholders are approached from time to time to consider a variety of transactions that are typically assessed “as a matter of practice”. The counter closed Friday up 8 per cent at S$0.215.
SG Local News
Swift Tour Prompts Economists to Upgrade Singapore GDP Forecast
Economists upgraded their first-quarter growth forecasts for Singapore, with some attributing the gains in part to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.
Gross domestic product will probably expand 2.9% in the three months ending March 31, the quickest pace in six quarters, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Economists also raised their annual growth expectation to 2.5% from 2.3% seen previously — toward the upper end of the government’s 1%-3% forecast for 2024.
The Singapore leg of the Eras tour involves the singer performing six concerts through March 9. That carries benefits to Singapore’s hospitality, food & beverage, and retail activities, according to DBS Bank Ltd. economist Han Teng Chua.
Muslims in Singapore to Mark Start of Ramadan on Mar 12
Muslims in Singapore will mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday (Mar 12).
The holy month begins with a sighting of the new moon based on the Islamic lunar calendar, after which religious authorities will declare the start of Ramadan.
In announcing the date, the Mufti of Singapore noted that according to astronomical calculations, the crescent for the month of Ramadan is "unlikely to be seen above Singapore's horizon" when the sun sets on Sunday evening.
This is because the crescent is "too small" and "does not meet the criteria of imkanur rukyah (calculation)" agreed upon by members of MABIMS (Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore) countries.
More Landlords and Tenants Turn to Small Claims Tribunals to Settle Rental Disputes
The rental boom in recent years has led to a jump in landlords and tenants resorting to legal avenues to settle their disputes.
In 2023, the Small Claims Tribunals (SCT) received 1,510 claims related to tenancy disputes – a 62 per cent increase from the 930 cases lodged in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of claims has risen yearly since 2019, with 1,063 claims lodged in 2020, 1,104 in 2021 and 1,114 in 2022.
About one in three SCT cases filed between 2019 and 2023 that involved tenancy disputes concluded with an order by the tribunal, said a Singapore Courts spokesman.
Frasers Centrepoint Trust to Join STI From Mar 18
Following the Straits Times Index’s (STI) March quarterly review, it was announced that Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) will be added to the STI and Emperador to be removed from it, effective at the start of business next Monday (Mar 18). This brings the total number of Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) in the STI to seven.
At a market capitalisation of S$3.9 billion, FCT will join the STI with an approximate weight of 0.8 per cent. FCT is also the second Frasers Property-sponsored Reit to join the benchmark after Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust. The combined indicative weightage of the seven S-Reits in the STI will be around 12.5 per cent.
FCT listed in Singapore on July 5, 2006, with an initial public offering (IPO) price of S$1.03. According to Bloomberg data, FCT has paid more than S$1.80 per unit in distributions since its listing. This brings its annualised total returns since the IPO to 10 per cent. At listing, FCT’s initial portfolio consisted of just three suburban malls – Causeway Point, Northpoint and Anchorpoint – with a combined value of S$915 million at the time.