Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened lower on Tuesday. STI fell 0.2%; SingPost rose 0.9%; First Reit rose 6%; Seatrium rose 1.4%.

Stocks to Watch

Singapore Post (SingPost): Former group chief executive Vincent Phang has resigned from his role as a non-executive, non-independent director with effect from Jan 12. Phang and two other SingPost senior executives were fired last year as they were found to have been negligent in the handling of internal investigations over a whistle-blower’s report and in subsequent probes. Shares of SingPost ended Monday 1.9 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$0.53, before the news.

First Real Estate Investment Trust (First Reit): It has received a preliminary non-binding letter of intent from Siloam International Hospitals to acquire its portfolio of hospital assets in Indonesia. The board of First Reit’s manager will conduct a strategic review to assess the letter of intent and explore all strategic options for the trust. Units of First Reit ended Monday flat at S$0.255, before the announcement.

Fu Yu : The precision plastic parts maker and its board have appointed lawyers to advise on the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) requisitioned by substantial shareholder Victor Lim, which aims to remove two independent directors (IDs) from their posts. Fu Yu also said the IDs are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. This comes after the IDs on Monday told The Business Times that they were surprised at Lim’s EGM requisition. Shares of Fu Yu closed flat at S$0.128, before the news.

Disa : It has signed a non-binding term sheet with a rheumatism and arthritis medical company and its sole shareholder, proposing to buy a 50 per cent stake in the medical company for S$5.5 million. The purchase will be funded through cash and the issuance of new ordinary shares in the Catalist-listed company.

Trading halt: Embattled cord-blood bank Cordlife called for a trading halt on Tuesday morning, pending the release of an announcement. Its shares ended Monday 3.3 per cent or S$0.005 lower at S$0.145.

Market News

DBS to redeem US$1 billion of 3.3% perpetuals on Feb 27

DBS Group Holdings says it will elect to and will redeem all of its outstanding US$1 billion 3.3% perpetual securities on Feb 27.

The perps were issued under the bank’s US$30 billion global medium term note programme on Feb 21, 2020, and was first callable in 2025. Buyers of the perps had to purchase them in denominations of US$200,000 and integral multiples of US$1,000 in excess.

GKE chalks up record interim earnings of $4.4 million, up 132.5% y-o-y

GKE Corp has reported record interim earnings of $4.41 million for its 1HFY2025 ended Nov 30, up 132.5% over the year-earlier period. Revenue was up 13.8% to $63.16 million. The company attributes the better bottom line to better operational performance of its warehouses. 

In addition, GKE booked a one-off gain of $1.1 million from the sale of its mining rights and its related equity investment in China.