To The Moon

Share buybacks

There were 18 companies conducting share buybacks over the five trading sessions through to May 25, with a total consideration of S$22.1 million, following the S$40.6 million filed for the preceding five sessions.

UOB $UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LIMITED(U11.SI)$ led the five-session consideration tally, buying back 360,000 shares acquired at an average price of S$27.92 per share.

Between May 8 and 25, UOB has bought back 1,008,000 shares, representing 0.06% of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares).

UOB noted in March that its buyback mandate provides it the flexibility to undertake the purchase or acquisition of its issued shares as and when appropriate to help achieve three objectives.

Firstly, the buybacks provide a means to assist the management of the capital structure of the company, with a view to achieving an efficient capital mix.

Secondly, the mandate enables UOB to manage surplus capital, such that the surplus capital and funds which are more than the company’s requirements may be returned to shareholders in an expedient and cost-efficient manner.

Thirdly, the buybacks also provide a means to improve return on equity, which is also one of the key objectives of the company.

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

The five trading sessions saw close to 80 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for fewer than 30 primary-listed stocks.

This included seven company director acquisitions with two disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed seven acquisitions and four disposals.

Share buybacks by primary listed companies 19 - 25 May 2023

1.PropNex $PROPNEX LIMITED(OYY.SI)$

Between May 19 and 22, PropNex executive director Kelvin Fong Keng Seong acquired 748,200 shares at an average price of S$1.02 per share. This increased his direct and deemed interest in Singapore’s largest listed real estate group from 8.75% to 8.85%.His preceding acquisitions were in July 2022, with 72,100 shares acquired at S$1.52 per share.

On the recent round of cooling measures directed at the Singapore property market, PropNex maintained that the government is moving early to rein in any exuberance that may be building up in the residential property market, seeing that overall private home prices rose by 3.3% in Q1 2023 compared to Q4 2022, as shown by the URA property price index flash estimates.

2.LY Corporation $LY CORPORATION LIMITED(1H8.SI)$

On May 22, LY Corporation founder and executive director Tan Kwee Chai acquired 490,000 shares of the Catalist-listed company via an off-market transaction. At an average price of 6.0 cents per share, the consideration of the acquisition was S$29,400.

This took his total interest in the manufacturer and exporter of wooden bedroom furniture from 73.17% to 73.27%. His preceding acquisition was on Nov 29, with 200,000 shares acquired at 7.8 cents per share.

In FY22 (ended Dec 31), the group reported a net profit of RM12.4 million (S$3.6 million), a significant improvement from the RM7.2 million loss in the previous year.

This performance was primarily driven by a 23.9%increase in revenue to RM234.5 million, due to changes in the product mix and a stronger US dollar to ringgit exchange rate.

3.Enviro-Hub Holdings $ENVIRO-HUB HOLDINGS LTD(L23.SI)$

On May 22, Enviro-Hub Holdings executive chairman Raymond Ng acquired 550,600 shares of the company at S$0.032 cents per share. This took his total interest in the environmental management solutions group from 28.42% to 28.46%.

For its FY22 (ended Dec 31), the group’s revenue grew 9% from FY21, reaching S$44.1 million. This was primarily due to growth in its e-waste recycling business and contributions from the health-care segment following the completion of the acquisition of Pastel Glove in October 2021.

https://www.sgx.com/research-education/market-updates/20230529-uob-leads-buybacks-propnexs-kelvin-fong-adds-stake