Hot stock: Singtel up 3.9% on potential stake sale in Australia Optus fibre assets

SHARES of Singtel Z74 rose as much as 3.9 per cent on Tuesday (Jan 11) amid heavy trading, following rumours in a Bloomberg report that the telco was considering a potential stake sale in the fibre assets of its Australian subsidiary Singtel Optus.

The index counter last closed at S$2.33 on Monday.

Shortly after resuming trading on Tuesday, the counter jumped as much as 3.9 per cent or S$0.09 to reach S$2.42 as at 9.44 am, with 27.4 million shares changing hands.

It continued to trade S$2.42 as at 10 am, making it the second most traded counter by volume at that time on the Singapore Exchange.

No married deals were recorded in early trade, according to ShareInvestor data.

Singtel has held talks with potential advisers to prepare for a strategic review of the Australian fibre business, according to sources in the Bloomberg report who asked to not be identified because the information is private.

Options for the assets, which could be worth a few billion dollars, include a potential stake sale, partnership with an investor or a sale and leaseback, the people told Bloomberg. Deliberations are preliminary and there is no certainty that the review will lead to a transaction, they added.

A representative for Singtel declined to comment for the Bloomberg report. A deal would help Singtel raise cash and boost growth amid increasing investor demand for digital infrastructure businesses, the people said.

In October, the company sold a majority stake in the mobile phone towers unit of Optus to pension manager AustralianSuper for about A$1.9 billion (S$1.9 billion).