Fewer director transactions as earnings season ramps up

FOR the 5 trading sessions that spanned Jan 21 to 27, the Straits Times Index (STI) declined 1.1 per cent, with the FTSE China A50 Index declining 2.9 per cent, the Hang Seng Index falling 4.0 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipping 0.7 per cent.

Within the STI, OCBC, O39 Singapore Telecommunications, Z74 UOB, U11 DBS Group Holdings D05 and Singapore Exchange S68 received the highest net institutional inflows for the 5 sessions.

Outside the STI, Singapore Press Holdings, T39 Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust, RW0U Pegasus Asia SPAC, PGU Geo Energy Resources RE4 and Hutchison Port Holdings Trust P7VU received the highest net institutional inflows for the period.

Overall, institutions were net buyers over the 5 sessions, with S$369 million of net inflow, while Mapletree Industrial Trust, ME8U Keppel DC Reit, AJBU ComfortDelGro Corporation, C52 iFAST Corporation AIY and Genting Singapore G13 reported the highest net institutional outflows.

For the month of January through to Jan 27, Singapore stocks received S$1.06 billion of net institutional inflows, with 311 stocks attracting net inflows and 247 stocks booking net outflows from institutions.

Share buybacks

There were 10 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the 5 sessions with a total consideration of S$15.6 million, a similar pace to the S$30.0 million in consideration over the preceding 10 sessions.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) BS6 led the consideration tally, buying 10 million shares at an average price of S$12.30 per share.

SHS Holdings led the buyback consideration of non-STI stocks, buying back 5 million shares at an average price of 16.0 cents per share.

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

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

The 5 trading sessions saw more than 120 changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for more than 30 primary-listed stocks.

This included 6 company director acquisitions with 3 disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed 7 acquisitions and 2 disposals.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings)

On Jan 24, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) substantial shareholder Ren Yuanlin disposed of his direct interest in the company, with the 3.2 million shares sold at an average price of S$1.32 per share.

He still maintains a 21.74 per cent indirect interest in the China-based shipbuilder.

In April 2020, Ren Yuanlin announced his retirement from the post of executive chairman of the group following his appointment to the board in 2006, which saw him make significant contributions to the group during the 14 years.

The current executive chair and CEO of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) is Ren Letian, the son of Ren Yuanlin.

Ren Letian joined the group as a site project manager in year 2006. Since then, he has assumed several managerial roles at various levels and business divisions in the group, gaining an in-depth knowledge of its operations.

For its 9MFY21 (ended Sep 30), Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) reported that its shipbuilding revenue increased by 8 per cent year on year to 8.467 billion yuan (S$1.8 billion) with 50 per cent of the revenue attributed to containerships.

During the 9 months, the group won orders for 124 vessels worth US$7.41 billion, representing its largest order wins.

The group has proposed a spin-off of its investment segment, and is expected to report its FY21 financials by Mar 1.

Mapletree Industrial Trust

On Jan 26, Mapletree Industrial Trust Management non-executive director Chua Tiow Chye acquired 200,000 units of Mapletree Industrial Trust at an average price of S$2.60 per unit.

With a consideration of S$519,050, this increased his deemed interest from 0.03 per cent to 0.04 per cent.

Chua is also the deputy group CEO of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, the sponsor of Mapletree Industrial Trust.

He focuses on driving the sponsor's strategic initiatives including expanding and directing its international real estate investments and developments.

He also directly oversees the sponsor's global lodging sector as well as the private capital management function.

On Jan 25, Mapletree Industrial Trust announced that its distribution per unit (DPU) for Q3FY21/22 (ended Dec 31) grew 6.4 per cent year on year to 3.49 cents on an enlarged unit base, which arose from the equity fund raising exercise completed in Q1FY21/22.

Gross revenue and net property income for Q3FY21/22 increased 31.3 per cent and 24.1 per cent year on year to S$162.4 million and S$122.7 million respectively, mainly driven by contributions from the acquisition of 29 data centres in the United States and 8011 Villa Park Drive, Richmond, Virginia.

Trans-China Automotive Holdings

On Jan 21, Trans-China Automotive Holdings VI2 executive director and CFO Michael Cheung Chee Wai acquired 105,000 shares of the Catalist-listed company at 25.0 cents per share.

With a consideration of S$26,250, this increased his direct interest in the company from 3.56 per cent to 3.58 per cent.

As CFO, Cheung oversees and manages the group's financial affairs.

Prior to joining the group, he was CFO of ZongshenPEM, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed light transportation manufacturing company and a subsidiary of Zongsheng Industrial Group (a top 500 enterprise in China).

Trans-China Automotive Holdings is an automotive dealership group focused on premium and super premium car brands.

The group owns and operates 9 dealerships representing the BMW, McLaren, and Lotus brands in 6 different cities, and is headquartered in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Asian Pay Television Trust

Between Jan 19 and 20, Dai Yung Huei, non-executive director of the trustee-manager of Asian Pay Television Trust S7OU (APTT) increased his deemed interest from 18.16 per cent to 18.27 per cent.

This saw 1,842,100 units of APTT acquired by Araedis Investment for a consideration of S$255,910 at an average price of 13.9 cents per unit.

It followed the acquisition of 1,794,300 units at an average price of 13.8 cents per unit between Jan 17 and 18.

Dai has gradually increased his deemed interest in APTT from 16.72 per cent prior to his appointment as non-executive director of the trustee-manager of APTT on Aug 13, 2021.

LHT Holdings

On Jan 20, LHT Holdings BEI chairman, managing director and CEO, Yap Mui Kee acquired 15,100 shares of the company for a consideration of S$10,519.

At an average price of 69.7 cents per share, this took her total interest in the manufacturer of high quality wooden pallets, boxes and crates from 14.69 per cent to 14.72 per cent.

Her preceding acquisition saw her buy 46,800 shares at 69.0 cents per share on Jan 7.

Yap has been executive director of the company since January 1988 and is in charge of all sales and marketing functions of the group.

She has over 35 years of experience in sales and marketing and plays a key role in exploring opportunities in new markets.

LHT Holdings will report its FY21 (ended Dec 31) results after the Feb 25 close.

Pegasus Asia

On Jan 21, Pegasus Asia, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) debuted on SGX, maintaining a market value of S$170 million on the Jan 27 close.

It plans to focus on companies and businesses in technology-enabled sectors, including but not limited to consumer-technology, financial technology, property-technology, insurance-technology, healthcare and medical technology, and digital services, primarily, but not exclusively, in Asia-Pacific.

Pegasus Asia is sponsored jointly by Tikehau Capital, Financiere Agache, Diego De Giorgi and Jean Pierre Mustier, who collectively maintain an extensive proprietary network and resources to search and evaluate targets.

Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition

On Jan 27, Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition (NTAA), a SPAC, debuted on SGX, maintaining a market value of S$146 million on the day's close.

The international placement of 9.5 million offering units to investors, including institutional and other investors in Singapore was 3.1 times subscribed.

Separate from the offering, 13 cornerstone investors subscribed for an aggregate of 16 million cornerstone units with Affin Hwang Asset Management and Venezio Investments, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, the 2 largest cornerstone investors.

The sponsor of NTAA, Novo Tellus PE Fund 2, was established to make private equity investments in the technology and industrials sector (which is also the SPAC's target sector) in the Indo-Pacific region.

The listing of NTAA builds on Novo Tellus Capital Partners' proven investment track record of generating strong equity growth and return in their SGX-listed portfolio companies over the last decade.

Relevant investment themes for NTAA include a focus on critical technology and macro-growth shifts with multi-year tailwinds, such as Industry 4.0, next generation semiconductors, cloud/edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI), medical life sciences, and supply chain resiliency for advanced engineering.

For more SPACs-related information, please visit sgx.com/SPACs.

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