Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened flat on Wednesday. STI was little changed; Cordlife surged 11%; CLI rose 0.4%; Clint fell 0.9%; Seatrium rose 2.3%.

Stocks to Watch

CapitaLand Investment(CLI): The real asset manager has appointed three female leaders into senior roles as part of its ongoing leadership renewal. From Jan 22, Yvonne Siew will be the managing director and head of product development and wealth markets of private capital markets. Yong Su-Lin will replace the current chief executive of CapitaLand Malaysia Reit Management Tan Choon Siang in February. Shares of CLI closed 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$2.46 on Tuesday, before the news. 

SIA Engineering : The aircraft maintenance provider has appointed Ng Chee Khern, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Manpower, as an independent non-executive director, with effect from Feb 1. He was also added to the board’s audit committee and technology advisory committee. Shares of SIA Engineering closed flat on Tuesday at S$2.33, before the announcement.

CapitaLand India Trust (Clint): The trust has signed a long-term agreement with a leading global hyperscaler for one of its data centres under development, and will likely pre-lease half of its total gross power capacity under development of around 250 megawatts. On Wednesday, Clint’s trustee-manager said it is diversifying into data centres to capitalise on India’s data centre needs, and strengthen its portfolio in the country. Units of Clint closed 0.9 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$1.06 on Tuesday.

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT): The trust may not be able to meet the minimum interest coverage ratio requirement for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, mainly due to non-operational accounting adjustments made to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, as well as its interest expenses. The manager noted that the breach will not incur negative financial consequences. Units of LMIRT closed on Tuesday up 12.5 per cent or S$0.002 at S$0.018.

Cordlife : Its cord-blood banking service and human-tissue banking service licences have been renewed by the Ministry of Health for one year, starting from Jan 14. On Tuesday night, the embattled cord-blood bank noted that at the current stage, it is unable to discern the impact on its fiscal performance for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025. Shares of Cordlife ended Monday flat at S$0.145, before calling for a trading halt the next morning. It will resume trading on Wednesday. 

HC Surgical Specialists : Its net profit for the six months ended November 2024 fell 2.1 per cent on the year to S$3.4 million, mainly due to fair-value loss on derivative financial instruments and loss from the disposal of an associate. Directors of the medical services provider declared an interim dividend of S$0.008 a share, payable on Mar 13. The counter closed flat on Tuesday at S$0.29, before the news. 

Market News

Budget 2025 should boost AI adoption and older worker support, say panellists

Funding for new public and education programmes to help small businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technologies safely, and extensions to existing schemes supporting older workers are some of the ways by which Budget 2025 can make an impact, said panellists at a discussion.

“We’re seeing a lot more emphasis on responsible AI, and that’s an area (where) Singapore can play a leading role,” noted Sam Liew, president of the Singapore Computer Society.

Singapore family offices exceed 2,000 in 2024, up 43% on year

The number of single family offices (SFOs) in Singapore continued to grow last year and shot past 2,000 by the end of 2024, said Second Finance Minister and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) deputy chairman Chee Hong Tat at an event on Tuesday (Jan 14).

He had noted in mid-September 2024 that the central bank had awarded tax incentives to around 1,650 SFOs by the end of August.

This means the number grew more than 21 per cent in the last four months of 2024. Year on year, the number of SFOs jumped by at least 42.9 per cent, from 1,400 in place at end-2023. Last year’s increase was more than double the 300 added in 2023 as well.