Wilmar resumes buybacks; RMG chair ups stake
FOR the five trading sessions that spanned Feb 19 to 25, the Straits Times Index (STI) rebounded 2.2 per cent while the Nikkei 225 Index, Hang Seng Index and S&P/ASX 200 Index averaged a 0.7 per cent decline.
This has brought the STI's total return for the 2021 year to Feb 25 to 4.8 per cent.
Within the STI, DBS, OCBC, Singapore Airlines, UOB and SATS were recipients of the highest net institutional inflows between Feb 19 and 25.
Outside the STI, Sri Trang Agro-Industry, Keppel Infrastructure Trust, Thomson Medical Group, Raffles Medical Group and Singapore Press Holdings saw the highest net institutional inflows for the five sessions.
Over the five sessions, the iEdge S-Reit Leaders Index declined 1.5 per cent, bringing its decline in total return for the 2021 year to Feb 25 also to 1.5 per cent.
Among the business trusts, stapled trusts and real estate investment trusts (Reits) in the S-Reit sector, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Suntec Reit and ARA Logos Logistics Trust received the highest net institutional inflows over the five sessions.
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Share buybacks
There were 12 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the five sessions with a total consideration of S$9,842,773, up from the S$6,674,559 for the preceding four sessions.
Wilmar International led the buyback consideration tally over the five sessions, buying back 463,000 shares at an average price of S$5.38 per share.
As of Feb 24, Wilmar International had purchased 0.71 per cent of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares) on the current mandate.
With its FY20 results reported on Feb 22, Wilmar said that to demonstrate its belief in its business model and the prospects of its business, in FY20, it bought back about S$190 million of its shares.
This was the second highest buyback consideration on SGX during the year.
The five sessions also saw Singapore Technologies Engineering buy back 655,000 shares at an average price of S$3.80 per share and Keppel Corporation bought 449,000 shares at an average price of S$5.05 per share.
Director and substantial shareholder transactions
The five trading sessions saw close to 70 changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 35 primary-listed stocks.
This included 11 company director acquisitions and one director disposal, with substantial shareholders filing four acquisitions and 12 disposals.
MC Payment
With the reverse takeover (RTO) of Artivision Tech, MC Payment debuted on Catalist on Feb 22.
The fintech group provides merchant payment services and digital commerce enabling services aimed at servicing merchants in the retail, transportation and food and beverage industries.
Headquartered in Singapore, MC Payment CEO Anthony Koh and COO Kim Moon Soo co-founded the company in 2005.
Mr Koh maintains a 6.11 per cent direct interest in the company, and Mr Kim maintains a 1.46 per cent direct interest in the company.
Non-executive non-independent director Harry Ng Weng Sui, who is also an independent director of Q & M Dental Group, Oxley Holdings, IEV Holdings, and HG Metal Manufacturing, maintains a 0.04 per cent direct interest in MC Payment.
Experienced banker and director, Albert Saychuan Cheok, is the non-executive chairman and independent director of the company.
Oxley Holdings executive chairman and chief executive officer Ching Chiat Kwong now maintains a 28.09 per cent substantial shareholding in MC Payment.
Proceeds from the placement associated with the RTO, including the issuance of placement undertaking shares to Mr Ching, are to raise funds for additional working capital for the enlarged group and for the redemption of the outstanding Series D convertible bonds.
From its foundations as a mobile payment technology solutions provider, the company was quick to launch its first proprietary mobile payment solution systems.
This provided customers with the means of using their mobile phones to detect credit cards, connect to bank servers and process payment wirelessly.
The homegrown company also received seed funding from SPRING Singapore, now known as Enterprise Singapore.
Since then, MC Payment has expanded its operations beyond Singapore and into Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with central banks granting payment licences in its three key overseas markets.
The company was also a recipient of Series A, B, C and D Funding between 2013 and 2018.
Most recently in 2020, the group also obtained a Major Payment Institution Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to conduct payment services comprising domestic money transfer service, cross-border money transfer service and merchant acquisition service.
According to its investor relations firm, GEM COMM, the group retains a competitive edge by being one of the few licensed payment providers with a regional presence and a scalable payment infrastructure, with a long growth runway by banking on a secular digital-payments trend and a huge addressable market across Asean.
A Frost & Sullivan study in June 2020 found that 62 per cent of consumers in the Asean region had planned to increase use of online payment services after the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, while 60 per cent of consumers plan to increase the use of digital wallet services in a post-pandemic scenario.
The Catalist-listed company maintains a market capitalisation close to S$130 million.
Following the trading debut on Feb 22, Mr Koh highlighted that as the first digital payments service firm listed on SGX, MC Payment intends to take the lead in strengthening this ecosystem.
Raffles Medical Group
On Feb 22, Raffles Medical Group executive chairman and co-founder Loo Choon Yong acquired 1.5 million shares of the private healthcare provider for a consideration of S$1,534,050.
At S$1.02 per share, this increased Dr Loo's total interest in Raffles Medical Group from 52.31 per cent to 51.39 per cent.
Also on Feb 22, non-independent director Olivier Lim Tse Ghow acquired 134,000 shares for a consideration of S$137,350, at S$1.03 per share.
Prior to the Feb 22 market open, Raffles Medical Group reported revenue growth of 8.8 per cent to S$568.2 million for its FY20 (ended Dec 31), in spite of a challenging market environment as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
With the results, Dr Loo paid tribute to the frontline workers and members of the group, noting that each day they go above, and beyond, to deliver on the group's promise to its patients and corporate clients, as their trusted partner for health.
Dr Loo added that the resilience, dedication and agility of the group's workforce, coupled with the strategic investments and austere planning have allowed it to emerge stronger amid this pandemic, with a healthy performance to give back to its shareholders and staff who have contributed.
Credit Bureau Asia
On Feb 25, Credit Bureau Asia founder & executive chairman Koo Chiang acquired 1,070,200 shares of the company for a consideration of S$1,496,899.
At S$1.40 per share, this increased his direct interest in Credit Bureau Asia from 67.30 per cent to 67.80 per cent.
Since establishing the credit information business in Singapore in 1993, Mr Koo has been instrumental in the success and expansion of the group over the past two decades.
On Feb 24, Credit Bureau Asia reported that for its FY20 (ended Dec 31) the group achieved a net profit after tax of S$17.6 million and net profit after tax and minority interest (Patmi) of S$6.8 million.
Excluding the one-off IPO expenses of S$1.4 million, CBA would have registered a Patmi of S$8.2 million for FY20, an 11.1 per cent increase from FY19.
Tai Sin Electric
Between Feb 22 and 24, Tai Sin Electric chairman, non-executive and non-independent director, Bobby Lim Chye Huat acquired 232,100 shares for a consideration of S$77,593.
At an average price of 33.4 cents per share, this increased Mr Lim's interest in Tai Sin Electric from 6.56 per cent to 6.57 per cent.
First appointed as a director of Tai Sin Electric in October 1997, Mr Lim was previously managing director of Lim Kim Hai Electric Co (S) from 1972 to 1997.
Tai Sin Electric noted back on Feb 8 that its focus to continuously accelerate digitalisation has reaped improvement in business activities and work processes, allowing its business arms to operate efficiently at lower capacity while complying with stringent safe distancing measures.
Vibrant Group
On Feb 22, Vibrant Group executive director and chief executive officer Eric Khua Kian Keong acquired 465,000 shares of the company for a consideration of S$46,035 at an average price of 9.9 cents per share.
This increased his interest in the integrated logistics services provider from 53.60 per cent to 53.67 per cent.
Mr Khua has been the CEO of Vibrant Group (formerly known as Freight Links Express Holdings) since November 2003.
He is also an alternate director of Freight Management Holdings, an associated company listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Vibrant Group noted in December that it had seen a slowdown in its business segments during H1FY21 (ended Oct 31), albeit marginally compared to H1FY20, and expects this slowdown to continue for some time.
The group also noted that moving forward, its stance would be one of cautiousness and it will continue to evaluate its business options as the overall environment evolves with the current pandemic.
- 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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