Lion Global Investors accumulates shares in Valuetronics and iX Biopharma

[SINGAPORE] Over the five sessions, more than 50 director interests and substantial shareholdings were filed for close to 30 primary-listed stocks.

Directors or chief executives reported four acquisitions and no disposals, while substantial shareholders recorded five acquisitions and one disposal.

This included CEO or director acquisitions filed for Alpha Integrated Reit , Aztech Global , iFast Corp and Toku .

On Jul 28, iWow Technology completed its S$15 million placement through the issuance of 66.7 million new shares at S$0.225 per share.

The placement attracted institutional and strategic investors including fund managers under Singapore’s Equity Market Development Programme, alongside investors such as Lion Global Investors, UOB Asset Management, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore and Value Partners Hong Kong.

Share buybacks

In addition, the five sessions saw a dozen primary-listed companies conduct buybacks with a total consideration of S$26.7 million, a similar pace to the previous week.

Aztech Global executive chairman raises stake

On Jul 29, Aztech Global executive chairman and chief executive officer Michael Mun acquired 100,000 shares at an average purchase price of S$0.715 per share.

Following the market purchase, Mun’s total interest in the company increased to 542.8 million shares.

This is equivalent to 70.3 per cent of Aztech Global’s issued share capital.

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The share purchase came a day after Aztech Global reported first-half 2026 net profit of S$9.4 million on revenue of S$151.4 million and declared an interim dividend of S$0.005 per share.

The group also highlighted that it secured 13 new project orders and added four new customers during the first half as part of its customer and revenue diversification effort.

iFast chairman and group CEO increases stake

On Jul 29, Lim Chung Chun, chairman and group chief executive officer of iFast, bought 36,200 shares on the market for S$316,326, representing an average purchase price of S$8.74 per share.

Following the acquisition, his total interest in the group increased to 60.1 million shares, equivalent to 19.6 per cent of the company’s issued shares.

The share purchase followed iFast’s release of its second-quarter results on Jul 24, which reported a 35 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to S$29.9 million and a 32.8 per cent increase in assets under administration to a record S$36.1 billion.

The group also raised its FY2026 dividend guidance to at least S$0.12 per share and declared a second interim dividend of S$0.03 per share.

Lion Global Investors’ Valuetronics purchase

On Jul 24, Lion Global Investors acquired 180,600 Valuetronics Holdings shares at an average price of S$1.12 per share.

The purchase increased the asset manager’s deemed interest from 19.7 million shares (4.83 per cent) to 19.88 million shares (4.88 per cent).

The transaction also lifted OCBC’s deemed interest from 4.98 per cent to 5.02 per cent, or 20.49 million shares, resulting in the bank emerging as a substantial shareholder.

This follows a series of stake increases by Amova Asset Management Asia, which emerged as a substantial shareholder in March after its managed portfolios crossed the 5 per cent threshold. The fund manager subsequently increased its interest to 6.11 per cent in April and 7.15 per cent in May, equivalent to 29.31 million shares.

At Valuetronics’ annual general meeting on Jul 27, management outlined plans to return about HK$300 million (US$38.3 million) of surplus cash to shareholders over FY2027 and FY2028 through a combination of special dividends and share buybacks.

Management indicated that HK$66 million has been earmarked for the FY2026 special dividend and that not less than HK$80 million will be deployed under the initial share buyback programme.

The balance of the HK$300 million capital return programme will be available for further special dividends and/or share buybacks over FY2027 and FY2028.

The programme reflects the board’s assessment of the group’s strong financial position and cash flow generation, with management highlighting a disciplined capital allocation framework that balances shareholder returns with working capital, capital expenditure, financial resilience and strategic growth requirements.

The company also raised its ordinary dividend payout target to 50 to 70 per cent of net profit, up from the previous 30 to 50 per cent range.

Including the proposed final and special dividends for FY2026, total dividends amount to HK$0.38 per share, representing a 41 per cent increase from the HK$0.27 per share paid for FY2025.

Management highlighted that despite a 4 per cent decline in FY2026 revenue to HK$1.7 billion, gross profit increased 6.3 per cent to HK$312.1 million and gross margin expanded to 18.8 per cent from 17 per cent.

Excluding the impact of the Trio AI investment, adjusted profit before income tax improved to HK$179.1 million from HK$174.7 million in FY2025, reflecting resilience in the group’s core electronics manufacturing services business.

Revenue mix also continued to shift towards the communication electronics segment, which accounted for 87.1 per cent of group revenue in FY2026 compared with 78.8 per cent in FY2025.

Lion Global Investors’ iX Biopharma purchase

On Jul 22, Lion Global Investors acquired 3.71 million iX Biopharma shares. The purchase increased the asset manager’s deemed interest from 49.54 million shares (4.54 per cent) to 53.25 million shares (4.87 per cent).

The transaction also lifted OCBC’s deemed interest from 4.71 per cent to 5.04 per cent, or 55.15 million shares, resulting in the bank emerging as a substantial shareholder.

The stake increase follows a series of strategic developments for iX Biopharma. In February, the speciality pharmaceutical company completed a placement of 75.8 million new shares, raising gross proceeds of at least S$6 million.

Cash and cash equivalents increased to S$15.9 million as at Mar 31, 2026, while net assets improved to S$17 million from S$400,000 at the end of FY2025. Working capital also improved to a surplus of S$11.3 million from a deficit of S$4.8 million.

At its July corporate briefing, management highlighted continued progress for Wafermine, its proprietary sublingual ketamine wafer being developed for acute moderate-to-severe pain.

The programme has completed its end-of-Phase II meeting with the US Food and Drugs Administration and is progressing towards Phase III development.

Management disclosed that operational medical systems is expected to provide about US$34.3 million of funding for Phase III studies, while iX Biopharma retains product rights and sponsorship.

In February, the company also announced a US$41 million US Department of Defense contract to further develop Wafermine for potential battlefield deployment under an emergency use authorisation pathway.

The company has approved the relocation of key manufacturing equipment from Australia to a US facility in Nevada.

Management noted that the move supports Buy American Act requirements, accelerates manufacturing readiness for Wafermine, and provides access to additional pharmaceutical manufacturing opportunities in the US market.

iX Biopharma will retain ownership of the equipment and underlying intellectual property.

For the nine months ended Mar 31, 2026, revenue declined 14 per cent year on year to S$4.8 million. However, gross profit increased 7 per cent to S$1.4 million and gross margin expanded to 30 per cent from 24 per cent, reflecting an improved product mix.

Net loss narrowed to S$3 million from S$8.4 million a year earlier, while adjusted Ebitda loss improved to S$1.7 million from S$1.9 million.

Management continues to position iX Biopharma around its WaferiX drug-delivery platform, which supports more than 40 pharmaceutical development programmes spanning pain management, peptides, hormones and metabolic health.

Recent developments include a strengthened balance sheet, Phase III funding support for Wafermine, progress towards US manufacturing capability and a Department of Defense-backed development programme.

Aedge: Funding property expansion & recurring income growth

Aedge Group has proposed a placement of 16.67 million new shares at S$0.21 per share to raise gross proceeds of some S$3.5 million. The new shares will account for about 9.3 per cent of the enlarged share capital.

The company’s previous placement was in May 2025, when it issued 1.95 million new shares at S$0.26 per share to raise gross proceeds of S$507,000.

Aedge intends to allocate about half of net proceeds towards expanding its investment properties division and the remaining 50 per cent towards working capital.

The company also cited broadening its shareholder base and potentially improving trading liquidity as objectives of the placement.

The placement follows the group’s continued expansion of its industrial property portfolio, including the June 2026 acquisition of 219 Kallang Bahru, its third industrial building acquisition.

Aedge’s H1 FY2026 (ended Dec 31) saw revenue increase 30.2 per cent year on year to S$17.3 million, while gross profit more than doubled to S$3.5 million and net profit reached S$1.1 million, compared with a loss of S$500,000 a year earlier.

Management was cautiously optimistic on H2 FY2026, citing recent contract wins across its engineering, transportation and security businesses.

Additionally, the expected operational commencement of a second worker dormitory will more than double the group’s bed capacity and further increase recurring rental income.

As at Dec 31, Catalist-listed Aedge reported investment properties with a carrying value of S$19.4 million and an assessed fair value of about S$26 million.

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