Waiting for Temasek’s largesse to pay off

INFLATION and interest rates, geopolitics, and the emergence of artificial intelligence have been among the biggest themes in markets around the world this year. Here in Singapore, however, the support of Temasek Holdings has proven to be a potent performance driver for some companies.

For instance, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is flying higher than ever now – thanks in part to the financial backing Temasek provided during the darkest hours of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of this year, shares in SIA have surged nearly 19.4 per cent – outpacing by a long way the 2.6 per cent rise charted by the Straits Times Index (STI). In fact, SIA is the third-best-performing component of the STI this year.