For the five trading sessions that spanned Oct 7 to Oct 13, the Straits Times Index (STI) declined 3.5 per cent, with the Hang Seng Index declining 8.8 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declining 4.2 per cent.  

Overall, institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks for the five sessions ending Oct 13, with close to S$200 million of net outflows. This brought the 2022 year to Oct 13 net institutional inflows to S$600 million. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation : O39 0%, Singapore Exchange : S68 0%, Singapore Technologies Engineering : S63 0%, Sats : S58 0%and CapitaLand Investment : 9CI 0% led the net institutional outflows for the five sessions. Stocks that saw the most net institutional inflows for the five sessions included Sembcorp Marine : S51 0%, Singapore Telecommunication : Z74 0%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings : BS6 0%, Keppel Corporation : BN4 0% and Sheng Siong Group : OV8 0%. 

Share Buybacks

There were 21 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the five sessions ending Oct 13, with a total consideration of S$18.5 million, a similar amount to the preceding week’s S$21.5 million. Yangzijiang Financial Holding : YF8 0% led the five-session buyback consideration tally, buying back 13.5 million shares at an average price of 36.3 cents per share. Yangzijiang Financial Holding has bought back 5.85 per cent of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares) on the current mandate, as of Oct 13. 

Director and substantial shareholder transactions 

The five trading sessions saw less than 30 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 18 primary-listed stocks. This included 13 company director acquisitions with one disposal filed, while substantial shareholders filed two acquisitions and seven disposals. As reported in The Business Times last week, between Oct 7 and Oct 10, Temasek Holdings’ subsidiary, and independently managed, Fullerton Fund Management sold 1.8 million of its shares in Sats at an average price of S$2.99. With a consideration of S$5.4 million, this reduced Temasek Holdings’ deemed interest in Sats to 39.96 per cent. 

iFast Corporation

Between Oct 10 and 11, iFast Corporation : AIY 0% non-executive non-independent director Lim Wee Kian acquired 57,000 shares at an average price of S$3.79 per share. With a consideration of S$216,310, this increased Lim’s total interest in the wealth management fintech platform from 6.74 per cent to 6.76 per cent. Lim is head of foreign exchange, treasury and markets at DBS Bank and has been with the bank since August 2004. Prior to joining DBS Bank, he was with various investment banks and was a member of the teams engaged in the trading of foreign exchange and interest rate products. 

On Oct 7, iFast Corporation received the Runner-Up award for the “Shareholder Communications Excellence Award (SCEA) 2022, Big Cap Category” at the Securities Investors’ Association Singapore (Sias) Investors’ Choice Awards 2022 ceremony. The chairman and CEO of iFast Corporation Lim Chung Chun noted that after emerging as the runner-up in the mid-cap category last year, the company was honoured to receive the same award in the big-cap category this year. iFast Corporation maintained S$17.68 billion of assets under administration as of Jun 30 and is scheduled to report Q3 FY22 financial results on Oct 26.  

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Lian Beng Group  

On Oct 10, Ong Sek Chong & Sons acquired 159,300 shares of Lian Beng Group : L03 0%. At an average price of 50.16 cents per share, the consideration for the acquisitions totalled S$79,903. The transactions took the total interest of Ong Sek Chong & Sons in the company from 58.59 per cent to 58.62 per cent. Ong Sek Chong & Sons has gradually increased its total interest in Lian Beng from 57.26 per cent at the end of August. Lian Beng Group chairman and managing director, Ong Pang Aik, and executive director, Ong Lay Huan maintain deemed interests in Ong Sek Chong & Sons. 

Uni-Asia Group 

On Oct 10, Uni-Asia Group : CHJ 0% executive director Masahiro Iwabuchi acquired 50,000 shares at 87.5 cents per share. This took his direct interest from 0.61 per cent to 0.67 per cent. His preceding acquisition was on Aug 16, with 80,000 shares acquired at S$1.12 per share. Iwabuchi joined the group in 1997 and was appointed as senior managing director in April 2014, and he heads the property investment department. Uni-Asia Group is an alternative investment company specialising in creating alternative investment opportunities and providing integrated services relating to such investments. The group’s alternative investment targets are mainly cargo ships and properties.

XMH Holdings 

On Oct 4, XMH Holdings : BQF 0% chairman and managing director Tan Tin Yeow acquired 107,000 shares at 24.0 cents per share. With a consideration of S$25,680 this increased Tan’s direct interest in the company from 41.92 per cent to 42.02 per cent. Tan has gradually increased his direct interest in the diesel engine, propulsion and power generating solutions provider from 41.27 per cent prior to Aug 25. He was appointed as managing director in 1991, and chairman in September 2016. He bears overall responsibility for the group as well as strategy formulation, corporate planning, business development and potential acquisition.

He was also responsible for establishing the distribution arm and securing the exclusive distributorships for the group and has more than 25 years of experience in the marine and industrial diesel engines industry. In its quarterly update, pursuant to its placing on the watch-list due to Financial Entry Criterion with effect from Dec 4, 2019, XMH Holdings noted that although the group has achieved an increase in revenue and profits for Q1 FY23 (ended Jul 31), the group maintains a cautious outlook given the conflict in Europe coupled with the global uncertainties brought about by the ongoing geopolitical tensions.

LHT Holdings

On Oct 10, LHT Holdings : BEI 0% managing director, Yap Mui Kee, acquired 21,200 shares at average price of 72.46 cents per share. With a consideration of S$15,362, this took her direct interest in the manufacturer of high-quality wooden pallets, boxes, and crates from 15.17 per cent to 15.21 per cent. Her preceding acquisition on Sep 29, saw Yap acquire 12,300 shares at 68.0 cents per share. Yap has gradually increased her direct interest in LHT Holdings from 14.12 per cent in August 2021.

The Straits Trading Company

On Oct 10, The Straits Trading Company : S20 0% independent and non-executive director Chua Tian Chu acquired 7,000 shares of the company at S$2.26 per share. This took Chua’s total interest in the conglomerate-investment company to 64,000 shares, which represents close to 0.02 per cent of the outstanding shares. Chua was the deputy CEO of Meritus Hotels & Resorts from 2012 to 2013. Prior to this, Chua held the positions of executive vice-president of international sector and Greater China region, as well as head, global financial institutions group of United Overseas Bank, and managing director and head of investment finance of Citigroup Private Bank (Asia-Pacific region) as well as head of Citigroup Corporate Banking in Singapore. 

Mooreast Holdings 

On Oct 6, Mooreast Holdings : 1V3 0%founder, executive director, CEO and deputy chairman Sim Koon Lam acquired 70,000 shares at an average price of 13.0 cents per share.  With a consideration of S$9,100 this increased his total interest in the Catalist-listed company from 73.73 per cent to 73.75 per cent. This followed acquisitions of 1,000 shares at 11.0 cents per share on Sep 23, and 108,000 shares on Aug 30 at 13.1 cents per share. Sim has over 35 years of business and technical experience in the O&G industry. As CEO his core responsibilities include operations management and business development. He founded Mooreast Asia Pte Ltd in 2010 and established Mooreast Pte Ltd in Singapore in 1993 as Vryhof Anchors’ Asian subsidiary to support regional operations and after-sales services.

A-Sonic Aerospace

On Oct 10, A-Sonic Aerospace : BTJ 0% CEO Janet LC Tan acquired 10,000 shares for a consideration of S$5,457. This took her direct interest in the company from 60.60 per cent to 60.61 per cent. She has gradually increased her total interest in A-Sonic Aerospace from 53.35 per cent at the end of 2018. The company engaged in two areas of businesses, aviation, and logistics. It operates in 28 cities in 16 countries and spans four continents, Asia, North America, Sub-Continent India and Europe.

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