Real estate directors continue to build interests
[SINGAPORE] Over the four trading sessions from Oct 17 to 23, institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional inflow of S$57 million, partially reversing the S$167 million net institutional outflow for the preceding week.
Stocks with the highest net institutional inflows included Singtel , Keppel , City Developments Ltd , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings , Genting Singapore , Sembcorp Industries , Jardine Cycle & Carriage , Thai Beverage , Frencken Group and Wilmar International .
Meanwhile, DBS , UOB , CapitaLand Investment , Yangzijiang Financial Holding , Keppel DC Reit , , iFast Corporation , Seatrium , Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and ComfortDelGro led institutional outflows.
Industrials and telecommunications booked the highest net institutional inflows for the week; financial services and energy were the only two sectors to book net institutional outflows.
Share buybacks
Eleven primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$13.6 million. UOB led the consideration tally, buying back 300,000 of its shares at an average price of S$34.57.
Hongkong Land and Stoneweg Europe Stapled Trust (Sert) also conducted buybacks during the week.
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Director transactions
More than 50 director interests and substantial shareholdings were filed.
Across close to 25 primary-listed stocks, acquisitions and disposals by directors and substantial shareholders were below the usual pace, ahead of the tranche of companies expected to report business updates for the third quarter of 2025 in the coming weeks.
Q & M Dental Group
On Oct 22, Quan Min Holdings acquired 1,335,300 shares of Q & M Dental at an average price of S$0.49 a share. This increased the total interest of non-independent executive director and group CEO Ng Chin Siau to 55.26 per cent, from 55.40 per cent previously.
Centurion Corporation
On Oct 17, Centurion Corporation non-executive director and joint chairman Han Seng Juan increased his interest in Centurion Corporation from 55.75 per cent to 55.79 per cent. The on-market acquisition saw him acquire 300,000 shares at an average price of S$1.41 per share.
This follows Han’s acquisition of 300,000 shares between Sep 29 and 30, his acquisition of 250,000 shares at an average price of S$1.04 apiece on Apr 7, and a further 600,000 shares at S$0.977 apiece on Feb 27. His preceding acquisitions before 2025 were made in August 2020.
On Oct 14, Centurion Corporation announced it acquired a land site in London’s Zone 1 to develop a 225-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) under its Epiisod brand. This marks Centurion’s entry into London, the sixth city in its UK portfolio, strengthening its presence in prime student markets.
Ho Bee Land
On Oct 17, Ng Noi Hinoy, the spouse of Ho Bee Land executive chairman Chua Thian Poh, acquired 120,000 shares at an average price of S$2.17 per share. This increased Chua’s deemed interest in Ho Bee Land to 75.70 per cent from 75.68 per cent.
Earlier, on Aug 14, Ho Bee Land announced a net profit of S$49.8 million for the first half of FY2025 ended Jun 30, up from S$8.8 million for H1 FY2024. This improvement came despite a 23 per cent decline in revenue to S$177.7 million, mainly due to fewer settlements from Australian development projects and the reclassification of Elementum as a joint venture.
The stronger net profit was driven by resilient recurring rental income, higher contributions from joint ventures, and lower interest expenses. The group’s commercial portfolio in Singapore and London maintained an occupancy rate of more than 95 per cent as at Jun 30.
Wing Tai Holdings
Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung raised his deemed interest in the company through shares bought by his spouse, Helen Chow. On Oct 21, Cheng’s deemed interest in the real estate developer and lifestyle retailer rose by 40,000 shares, from 62.00 to 62.01 per cent.
Asian Pay Television Trust
On Oct 17, Lu Fang-Ming, non-executive director and vice-chair of the trustee-manager of APTT , acquired 326,000 units of the business trust at an average price of S$0.10 per unit. This marginally increased his total interest, which stands at 1.29 per cent. Back in Q2 FY2025 ended Jun 30, APTT added about 10,000 net subscribers, lifting its total subscriber base to about 1,364,000.
CapitaLand India Trust
On Oct 14, abrdn Holdings increased its deemed interest in CapitaLand India Trust (Clint) from 5.97 per cent to 6 per cent. The 451,800 units were acquired at S$1.16 apiece.
A subsequent filing detailed that on Oct 17, there was a market transaction for the sale of 180,600 shares and an off-market transaction for a purchase of 50,200 shares. This trimmed the substantial shareholding to a thin margin below 6 per cent.
A subsidiary of Aberdeen Group, abrdn Holdings serves as the parent company to subsidiaries that manage investments on behalf of a diverse range of clients and funds. abrdn Holdings became a substantial shareholder on Jul 14, with the acquisition of 1,955,100 units taking its deemed interest from 4.90 per cent to 5.04 per cent. This saw the deemed interest of Aberdeen Group cross the 6 per cent threshold, as disclosed on Jul 15.
Clint is scheduled to report its Q3 2025 business update before the market opens on Oct 31. On Jul 30, it reported a 9 per cent year-on-year increase in distribution per unit to S$0.0397 for H1 2025. Net property income (NPI) rose 14 per cent in Indian rupee terms and 10 per cent in Singapore dollar terms, driven by higher property income and partly offset by increased operating expenses.
Income available for distribution grew 15 per cent in rupee terms and 10 per cent in Singdollar terms, mainly due to higher NPI, offset by higher finance costs and trustee-manager fees.
On Sep 29, Clint completed the divestment of two properties – CyberVale IT SEZ, Chennai and CyberPearl IT Park, Hyderabad. The CEO of the Clint trustee-manager, Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, noted that these divestments are part of an active portfolio management strategy, which increases its financial flexibility to pursue higher-yielding assets and deliver sustainable returns for unitholders.
Following the divestment, Clint’s completed portfolio spans about 21.2 million square feet across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai.
Clint continues to focus on capitalising on the fast-growing IT industry and logistics/industrial asset classes in India, as well as proactively diversifying into other asset classes such as data centres.
On Sep 11, Syfe initiated coverage on Clint, highlighting that its tenant mix is diversified across 329 customers, with no single tenant contributing more than 12 per cent of gross rental income, reducing reliance on any one occupier. Syfe maintained that this broad tenant base stabilises income streams and enhances resilience across market cycles, helping to cushion the impact of sector-specific downturns.
Unlike a traditional Reit, Clint is structured as a business trust and is not subject to any limit on development activities, giving it flexibility to develop and acquire land or uncompleted developments primarily to be used as business space, with the objective of holding the properties upon completion.
However, to balance flexibility in investment strategies and prudent capital management, Clint’s trust deed provides that development activities will be limited to 20 per cent of deposited property, and has voluntarily adopted key safeguarding provisions, such as maintaining a gearing limit and distributing at least 90 per cent of distributable income.
In January 2025, Clint signed a long-term agreement with a leading global hyperscaler for a data centre, and its data centre developments are progressing as planned. In February, Clint entered a forward purchase agreement with an affiliate of Maia Group to acquire a 1.1 million sq ft office development in Nagawara, Outer Ring Road, Bengaluru – an acquisition that will expand Clint’s Bengaluru portfolio to 9.9 million sq ft by 2028.
Clint’s business parks are positioned to benefit from India’s growing innovation economy. Nagabhushanam shared that in Clint’s business parks, engineers design semiconductor tools, scientists work on drug discovery, and automotive firms model autonomous driving systems.
He highlighted that the country’s infrastructure push, rapid digital adoption, and rising incomes fuelling demand for housing, consumer goods and warehousing, are creating powerful growth corridors.
He added that against the macro backdrop, business park rents remain low by global standards; as per-capita income rises, rents are expected to climb, providing potential strong tailwinds for Clint’s steady growth.
The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX’s market research reports, visit sgx.com/research
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