Catalist, a platform for smaller-sized yet fast-growing enterprises, celebrates its 10th year anniversary. It has doubled its size in the past decade, listing 197 stocks with a combined market capitalisation of S$11.6 billion today.
Fund-raising activities on Catalist have also accelerated in recent years. In the past five years, IPO market capitalisation has grown over 140%, and initial funds raised were nearly 180% larger compared to the platform’s initial five years after it was established.
The 10 biggest Catalist stocks have a market capitalisation-weighted average price return of +35.2% in the YTD, outperforming STI’s +12.4%. The five best performing stocks are UnUsUaL (+170.0%), Moya Holdings Asia (+118.9%), Kimly (+50.0%), Singapore Medical Group (+29.9%), and 800 Super Holdings (+24.9%).
SGX Catalist Board
Launched in 2007 and replacing SESDAQ, SGX’s Catalist board celebrates its 10th year anniversary this year.
Catalist provides investors access to smaller-sized, yet potentially fast-growing companies. The growth platform allows less mature and developing enterprises to raise funds either through equity or debt.
The 197 companies listed on Catalist currently have a combined market capitalisation of S$11.6 billion, and span a diverse range of industries, with many of them operating in niche segments.
The 10 biggest Catalist stocks have a combined market capitalisation of S$3.5 billion. In the year-to-date, these 10 stocks have generated a market capitalisation-weighted average price return of 35.2%, outperforming the benchmark Straits Times Index’s 12.4%.
Catalist Platform Doubled Growth in Past Decade (2007-YTD2017)
The Catalist platform has experienced strong growth since its inception in 2007. Specifically, the number of companies and market capitalisation has expanded more than 50% and 110% respectively from the 130 companies with a combined market capitalisation of S$5.5 billion in Feb 2010, when the successful transition of SESDAQ to Catalist was announced.
Source: Bloomberg (data as of 29 September 2017).
Number of companies and market capitalisation based on year-end figures.
1 Note: Successful transition of SESDAQ companies to Catalist sponsorship regime in 2010.
Fund-Raising Platform for Fast-Growing Companies
Catalist, a sponsor-supervised regime, allows expanding companies to raise funds to support their businesses through primary and secondary avenues. These fund-raising activities have accelerated in recent years.
Some key highlights include:
- Rise in IPO funds raised and market capitalisation – New listings in recent five years (2013 – YTD2017) saw Catalist raise close to 180% more IPO funds than its initial five years after it was established. IPO market capitalisation has also grown over 140% across the same period. In 2017 alone, the average IPO market capitalisation was S$150 million, nearly three times larger than its average five years ago.
- 13 listings in 2017 YTD – In the year-to-date, Catalist saw 13 listings through IPOs and RTOs which raised S$263.7 million in IPO funds and contributed a total IPO market capitalisation of S$2.0 billion (c.25% of Catalist’s combined market capitalisation at end 2016).
- S$375.8 million in secondary fund raisings in 2017 YTD – In terms of secondary fund-raisings after listing, Catalist companies raised a total of S$375.8 million in the year-to-date and over S$3.7 billion in the last five years. Secondary fund raising is typically used to finance a company’s business activities.
- Turnover turnover velocity of 92% – Catalist has a turnover velocity of 92% in the year-to-date (Jan – Aug 2017), compared to 74% in the same period last year. Turnover velocity compares the turnover of a stock to its market capitalisation. Statistics for the past five years also show that Catalist is one of most liquid growth platforms globally at 129% turnover velocity across a five-year average (2013 – Aug 2017).
Ten Largest Catalist Stocks Outperform Benchmark in 2017 YTD
The 10 biggest stocks listed on the Catalist board have a market capitalisation-weighted average price return of +35.2% in the year-to-date, outperforming the benchmark STI’s +12.4%. Of the 10, six have generated positive price returns in the year-to-date. The five best performing stocks are UnUsUaL (+170.0%), Moya Holdings Asia (+118.9%), Kimly (+50.0%), Singapore Medical Group (+29.9%), and 800 Super Holdings (+24.9%).
Four of the 10 were new listings this year - Kimly, UnUsUaL, Hatten Land and World Class Global. UnUsUaL and Kimly have biggest weights in the FTSE Catalist Index at 7.1% and 5.2% respectively (click here to read more).
The 10 stocks are listed in the table below. Click on each stock to visit its profile page on SGX StockFacts.
| Name | SGX Code |
Market Cap S$m |
Price S$ |
Price Change YTD % |
P/E (x) |
P/B (x) |
GICS Ind Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talkmed Group | 5G3 | 808 | 0.630 | 23.5 | 22.8 | 12.4 | Health Care Providers & Services |
| Kimly | 1D0 | 440 | 0.375 | 50.0* | N/A | N/A | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure |
| Jumbo Group | 42R | 366 | 0.560 | -13.9 | 23.8 | 5.6 | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure |
| Moya Holdings Asia | 5WE | 328 | 0.116 | 118.9 | 57.7 | 2.7 | Commercial Services & Supplies |
| UnUsUaL | 1D1 | 315 | 0.540 | 170.0* | N/A | 22.0 | Media |
| Hatten Land | PH0 | 276 | 0.200 | -52.4* | N/A | 3.8 | Real Estate Management & Development |
| Singapore Medical Group | 5OT | 255 | 0.565 | 29.9 | 34.6 | 2.8 | Health Care Providers & Services |
| World Class Global | 1E6 | 229 | 0.245 | -5.8* | N/A | N/A | Real Estate Management & Development |
| Singapore O&G | 1D8 | 222 | 0.475 | -19.2 | 24.9 | 5.3 | Health Care Providers & Services |
| 800 Super Holdings | 5TG | 213 | 1.205 | 24.9 | 12.4 | 2.6 | Commercial Services & Supplies |
| Average | 32.6 | 29.4 | 7.1 | ||||
| Market Cap Weighted Average | 35.2 | 28.8 | 8.4 | ||||
Source: Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 4 October 2017).
* These stocks were listed in 2017 & YTD Price Change is calculated from initial offer price till date.
Advantages of Listing on SGX Catalist
Singapore Exchange (SGX) has two trading boards: the Mainboard – which typically lists larger stocks, and the Catalist Board – which provides investors access to smaller-sized, yet potentially fast-growing companies.
There is no quantitative entry criteria required by SGX for Catalist stocks, and businesses seeking a primary listing on Catalist must be brought to list by approved Sponsors. This can be via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) or through a Reverse Takeover (RTO). To help facilitate the growth of the business, Catalist also provides for a greater scope for secondary fundraisings, such as higher annual limit on the issue of additional shares as well as easier acquisitions and disposals to meet companies’ growth plans and needs.
Did You Know?
Recently, a number of these Catalist companies have attracted notable institutional investors at their IPOs. They include Accion Capital Management, Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad, Asdew Acquisitions, Credence, Eastspring Investments, Fidelity, Havenport Asset Management, JP Morgan Asset Management, Lion Global Investors, Luminor Capital, Nikko Asset Management, Samsung Asset Management (HK), Temasek Holdings, and Three Arch Partners.
