In the month of July 37 stocks repurchased 52 million shares/units for a total consideration of S$109 million. The buyback consideration was down 37% from S$174 million in June 2018 & up fourfold from S$27 million in July 2017.
The 37 stocks included eight STI constituents - UOB, DBS, Yangzijiang, Keppel Corp, OCBC, Sing Technologies, SATS & Sembcorp Industries; and made up as much as S$83 million, or 75%, of the S$109 million in consideration.
UOB led the July tally with the buyback of 1.2 million shares for a consideration of S$32.7 million. The largest buyback consideration posted by a non-STI stock was again by Wing Tai Hldgs which bought back 5.6 million shares for a consideration of S$10.7 million.
Total share buyback consideration for the month of July 2018 totaled S$109.0 million. As many as 37 stocks reported buybacks over the month, up from 33 stocks in June 2018.
Over the month of July, the 37 stocks bought back a total of 52.455 million shares or units. The S$109 million buyback consideration was down 37% from S$174 million in June 2018 (click here for more details).
Year-on-year, the consideration for July 2018 was up fourfold from S$27 million in July 2017. A similar trend was observed for the first seven months of 2018 with the total buyback consideration of S$948 million, comparing to S$228 million for the first seven months of 2017.
During the month a number of stocks commenced new mandates including – DBS Group Holdings, Keppel REIT, Ho Bee Land, Sembcorp Marine, Duty Free International, Kimly, Valuetronics Holdings, XMH Holdings, Tuan Sing Holdings, Ban Leong Technologies and Kim Heng Offshore & Marine Holdings. Keppel REIT Management bought back 3.5 million units of Keppel REIT between 27 July and 31 July.
The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 1.6% for the month of June bringing its dividend inclusive decline in total return to 0.3% for the first seven months of 2018. This compared to the benchmarks of Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, which have registered SGD denominated average total returns of 1.7% for the seven months.
Monthly Share Buyback Consideration (S$ Million) & STI Month-End Levels
Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 31 July 2018)
The five stocks with the largest buyback consideration value last month were United Overseas Bank, DBS Group Holdings, Wing Tai Holdings, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) and Keppel Corporation which made up 74% of the S$109.0 million in total consideration.
The largest buyback consideration posted by a non-STI stock in July was Wing Tai Holdings which also posted the largest buyback consideration by a non-STI stock in the preceding month. The leading property and lifestyle company, which has been listed since 1989, bought back 5,561,400 shares in July, after buying back 2,278,500 shares in June.
8 STI constituents made up as much as S$83 million, or 75%, of the S$109 million in consideration.
The table below summarises the buyback considerations in July 2018. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions.
| Stock / REIT Manager | Start Date |
Mandate | Total No. of Shares/units Bought back in July 2018 |
Total Consideration for July 2018 $ |
Cum No. of Shares/units Purchased to End of July |
Percent % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNITED OVERSEAS BANK | 20/04/2018 | 83,042,898 | 1,235,404 | 32,754,274 | 3,071,467 | 0.18 |
| DBS GROUP HOLDINGS | 25/04/2018 | 51,277,414 | 854,800 | 21,554,254 | 854,800 | 0.03 |
| WING TAI HOLDINGS | 23/10/2017 | 77,447,436 | 5,561,400 | 10,716,024 | 7,839,900 | 1.01 |
| YANGZIJIANG SHIP (HLDGS) | 27/04/2018 | 396,883,800 | 9,914,400 | 8,715,383 | 23,072,800 | 0.58 |
| KEPPEL CORPORATION | 20/04/2018 | 90,807,408 | 939,000 | 6,642,716 | 4,000,000 | 0.22 |
| OVERSEA-CHINESE BANK CORP | 30/04/2018 | 209,128,622 | 550,000 | 6,279,661 | 4,625,000 | 0.11 |
| KEPPEL REIT | 20/04/2018 | 169,473,366 | 3,500,000 | 4,081,248 | 3,500,000 | 0.10 |
| SING TECHNOLOGIES ENG | 20/04/2018 | 62,407,292 | 1,000,000 | 3,250,648 | 1,321,400 | 0.04 |
| SATS | 21/07/2017 | 22,384,146 | 570,600 | 2,809,265 | 6,840,100 | 0.61 |
| SINGAPORE POST | 11/07/2018 | 226,352,024 | 1,590,000 | 2,122,320 | 1,590,000 | 0.07 |
| OXLEY HOLDINGS | 31/10/2017 | 147,410,998 | 3,600,000 | 1,285,092 | 9,300,000 | 0.32 |
| HO BEE LAND | 26/04/2018 | 33,286,030 | 490,000 | 1,149,324 | 490,000 | 0.07 |
| SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES | 20/04/2018 | 35,744,450 | 350,000 | 938,490 | 550,000 | 0.03 |
| SINGHAIYI GROUP | 26/07/2018 | 428,511,187 | 8,123,000 | 805,618 | 20,334,900 | 0.71 |
| SEMBCORP MARINE | 18/04/2018 | 208,880,250 | 400,000 | 738,828 | 400,000 | 0.02 |
| DUTY FREE INTERNATIONAL | 28/06/2018 | 121,345,399 | 3,421,000 | 727,592 | 3,421,000 | 0.28 |
| KIMLY | 23/01/2018 | 115,778,673 | 2,000,000 | 714,962 | 2,000,000 | 0.17 |
| HRNETGROUP | 27/04/2018 | 101,140,687 | 800,000 | 701,889 | 3,590,000 | 0.36 |
| SILVERLAKE AXIS | 26/10/2017 | 264,661,760 | 777,700 | 396,832 | 177,168,100 | 6.69 |
| ROXY-PACIFIC HOLDINGS | 06/04/2018 | 119,009,499 | 850,000 | 396,242 | 6,173,900 | 0.52 |
| VALUETRONICS HOLDINGS | 24/07/2017 | 42,050,133 | 435,500 | 279,913 | 435,500 | 0.10 |
| CDW HOLDING | 22/06/2018 | 22,964,400 | 980,600 | 236,144 | 1,000,600 | 0.44 |
| XMH HOLDINGS | 25/08/2017 | 11,128,182 | 1,000,200 | 233,361 | 1,000,200 | 0.90 |
| HC SURGICAL SPECIALISTS | 26/09/2017 | 14,963,563 | 300,000 | 201,473 | 759,900 | 0.51 |
| TUAN SING HOLDINGS | 19/04/2018 | 118,689,278 | 500,000 | 199,618 | 500,000 | 0.04 |
| HEALTH MANAGEMENT INT | 30/10/2017 | 82,086,200 | 340,000 | 197,512 | 500,000 | 0.06 |
| STRACO CORPORATION | 27/04/2018 | 86,037,738 | 215,200 | 165,698 | 940,200 | 0.11 |
| BAN LEONG TECHNOLOGIES | 25/07/2017 | 11,522,200 | 542,000 | 130,442 | 542,000 | 0.47 |
| PEC | 27/10/2017 | 25,461,779 | 207,300 | 124,690 | 407,300 | 0.16 |
| HI-P INTERNATIONAL | 20/04/2018 | 80,848,740 | 100,000 | 116,278 | 3,728,700 | 0.46 |
| AEM HLDGS | 26/04/2018 | 27,014,073 | 100,000 | 104,267 | 300,000 | 0.11 |
| SEVAK | 30/04/2018 | 1,234,730 | 26,875 | 76,849 | 30,475 | 0.25 |
| SARINE TECHNOLOGIES | 24/04/2018 | 35,134,212 | 72,900 | 65,309 | 666,400 | 0.19 |
| SPACKMAN ENT GROUP | 26/04/2018 | 69,267,370 | 1,000,000 | 48,149 | 1,750,000 | 0.25 |
| TIONG SENG HOLDINGS | 25/04/2018 | 45,962,384 | 37,000 | 14,455 | 238,100 | 0.05 |
| S I2I | 30/04/2018 | 1,234,730 | 2,500 | 6,901 | 3,600 | 0.03 |
| KIM HENG O&M HLDGS | 23/04/2018 | 70,900,000 | 67,700 | 5,867 | 67,700 | 0.01 |
| Total | 52,455,079 | 108,987,587 |
* Note percentage of company’s issued shares excluding treasury shares as at the date of the share buyback resolution.
** Note Keppel REIT Management bought back 3.5 million units of Keppel REIT between 27 July and 31 July.
Source: SGX My Gateway (data as of 31 July 2018)
Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they will be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Other motivations for share buybacks include companies moving to align stock valuations with balance sheet objectives.
The date of the relevant share buyback mandate is also provided in the table above, in addition to the amount of shares authorised to be bought back under the mandate. The total number of shares purchased under the mandate and the percentage of the companies that issued shares that have been repurchased under the mandate are also provided.
Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market.
