FOR the 5 trading sessions that spanned Feb 11 to 17, the Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.4 per cent, with the FTSE China A50 Index gaining 0.1 per cent, the Hang Seng Index declining 0.5 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI adding 2.2 per cent.

Within the STI, OCBC, O39  Singapore Telecommunications, Z74 Wilmar International, F34 CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust C38U and UOB U11 r : U11 0%eceived the highest net institutional inflows for the 5 sessions.

Outside the STI, Keong Hong Holdings, 5TT Suntec Reit, T82U Geo Energy Resources, RE4 ESR-Reit J91U and Keppel Infrastructure Trust A7RU : A7RU 0% received the highest net institutional inflows for the period.

Overall, institutions were net buyers over the 5 sessions, with S$405 million of net inflow, following up from the S$405 million of net inflow for the preceding 5 sessions.

This has brought total net institutional inflows for the 2022 year to Feb 17 to S$1.89 billion.

Meanwhile, AEM Holdings, AWX Mapletree Industrial Trust, ME8U NetLink NBN Trust, CJLU Keppel DC Reit AJBU and StarHub CC3 : CC3 0% saw the highest net institutional outflows during the 5 sessions.

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On Feb 17, Keong Hong Holdings announced that the mandatory conditional cash offer by LJHB Capital for all the shares it does not already own at 38.4 cents per share was unconditional in all respects. The offer will close at 5.30 pm on Mar 11, 2022.

Share buybacks

There were 6 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the 5 sessions with a total consideration of S$16.9 million, down from S$36.6 million in the preceding week.

Keppel Corporation BN4 : BN4 0% again led the consideration tally, buying back 2,025,000 shares at an average price of S$6.06 per share.

This followed the buying back of 6,081,000 shares at an average price of S$6.00 per share for the preceding 5 sessions.

As at Feb 16, Keppel had bought back 0.52 per cent of its issued shares excluding treasury shares under its current share buyback mandate.

On Jan 27, Keppel announced that it had established a S$500 million share buyback programme, in accordance with the share purchase mandate granted by its shareholders at the company's previous annual general meeting.

Singapore Telecommunications bought back 1,363,996 shares at an average price of S$2.56 per share after providing a business update for its Q3FY22 (ended Dec 31).

For its Q3FY22, Singtel reported that its revenue was down 7.7 per cent to S$3.91 billion from Q3FY21 on lower NBN migration revenue and equipment sales, while net profit increased 23.8 per cent from Q3FY21 on net exceptional gains.

Singapore Telecommunications Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon noted that the group had continued to see good momentum in Optus' mobile business in Australia as well as strong growth from the data centre services as enterprises accelerate their digital transformation.

He added that Airtel remained the bright spot among the regional associates, demonstrating a sustained profit turnaround with strong performances in both India and Africa.

Secondary-listings Hongkong Land H78 and Jardine Matheson Holdings J36 : J36 0% also bought back shares over the 5 sessions.

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

The 5 trading sessions saw 55 changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 25 primary-listed stocks.

This included 7 company director acquisitions with the 1 disposal filed for Keong Hong Holdings, while substantial shareholders filed 6 acquisitions and 4 disposals.

Stamford Land Corporation

On Feb 14, Stamford Land Corporation H07 : H07 0% substantial shareholder Kiersten Ow Yiling increased her interest in the company to above the 6.00 per cent substantial shareholder threshold.

She acquired 2,051,000 shares at an average price of 39.0 cents per share, for a consideration of S$799,644, increasing her direct interest in Stamford Land from 5.99 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

This followed her increasing her interest in the company to above the 5.00 per cent substantial shareholder threshold on Feb 4.

Ow is an employee of the group, and the daughter of Stamford Land's executive chairman Ow Chio Kiat, the niece of deputy executive chairman Ow Cheo Guan and the sister of chief executive officer Ow Yew Heng.

Stamford Land which recently completed a rights issue, is expected to report its FY22 results at the end of May.

iFAST Corporation

On Feb 15, iFAST Corporation (iFAST Corp AIY : AIY 0% ) chairman and chief executive officer Lim Chung Chun acquired 50,000 shares of the company for a consideration of S$298,100.

At an average price of S$5.96 per share, the acquisition took his total interest from 21.04 per cent to 21.05 per cent.

His preceding acquisitions saw him buy 100,400 shares at S$7.56 per share on Jan 11, and before that, he bought 50,000 shares at S$5.63 per share on Mar 11, 2021, and 40,500 shares at S$5.64 a share on Feb 24, 2021.

On Feb 14, iFAST Corp reported that its FY21 (ended Dec 31) net profit grew 44.8 per cent from FY20 to S$30.63 million.

The group's assets under administration (AUA) continued to register new record levels, reaching S$19.00 billion as at Dec 31, growing 31.5 per cent since the end of 2020.

The AUA of unit trusts, its key investment asset class, grew to a record S$13.89 billion as at Dec 31, growing 27.5 per cent from FY20.

For the final dividend for FY21, the directors proposed a dividend of 1.40 cents per ordinary share, an increase of 40.0 per cent compared to the final dividend for FY20. This takes the total dividend for iFAST Corp's FY21 to 4.8 cents, up from 3.3 cents in the FY20.

Moving forward, the group maintains that it will focus on executing its 4-year plan which includes accelerating the Hong Kong business growth, adding digital banking and other capabilities to the iFAST fintech ecosystem, and continuing to build its global business model.

The company expects its overall business to achieve robust growth in both revenue and profitability between 2021 and 2025, with Hong Kong's ePension division expected to be the biggest driver from 2023.

Lim co-founded the company with the launch of its B2C division Fundsupermart.com in Singapore in 2000, following which the B2B division iFAST Financial was launched in 2001 and has led the company's regional expansion efforts, extending iFAST Corp's presence beyond Singapore to Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and India.

Creative Technology

Between Feb 11 and 15, Creative Technology C76 : C76 0% independent non-executive director George Yeo Yong Boon acquired 51,200 shares of the company at S$2.35 per share.

With a consideration of S$120,320, this took his interest to 0.07 per cent.

This was Yeo's first acquisition of shares in the company since he was appointed to the board with effect from Nov 15, 2021.

He has more than 40 years of experience in both the public and private sectors.

He was chairman of Hong Kong listed Kerry Logistics Network from 2012 to 2019 and senior adviser to Kuok Group from 2019 to 2021.

Yeo has been an independent non-executive director of Hong Kong-listed AIA Group since 2012 and Nasdaq-listed Pinduoduo since 2018.

On Feb 9, Creative Technology reported that its net sales for H1FY22 (ended Dec 31) decreased 28 per cent compared to the first half year of FY2021.

This was attributed to the net sales of the group being affected by the global shortages of semiconductors and delays in shipping schedules in H1FY22, while work from home arrangements, home-based learning and other Covid-19 restrictive measures contributed to higher sales in FY21.

Nevertheless, Creative Technology's net profit for its H1FY22 was US$1.2 million compared to US$0.1 million in H1FY21, mainly due to a US$10.0 million gain on disposal of a property located in the United States by a wholly owned subsidiary.

The group noted in its outlook that it continues to face shortages of certain products due to components unavailability, shipping disruptions, and increase in freight costs and prices of certain components.

For the second half of FY22, the group is targeting to maintain revenue at the current level and expects to report an operating loss.

Founded in Singapore in 1981, Creative Technology designs, manufactures and distributes cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices.

Pegasus Asia

Between Feb 14 and 15, Pegasus Asia PGU : PGU 0% non-independent director and CEO Neil Parekh acquired 10,000 units of the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an average price of S$4.87 per unit.

With a consideration of S$48,670, this took his direct interest in the SPAC from 0.02 per cent to 0.07 per cent.

Parekh is a partner and head of Asia, Australia & New Zealand at Tikehau Capital.

Prior to his current position, he was general manager, Asia, for National Australia Bank where he was responsible for all business, regulatory and governance matters for the bank's business in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX's market research reports, visit sgx.com/research.