SGX Listed Medical Suppliers Edge 12% Higher in April with Global COVID-19 Resurgence

On 17 April, the 7-day rolling average of daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 moved above its January 2021 high, to 766,231 cases. A key attributor is daily new infections in India soaring fivefold from more than 50,000 cases at the end of March, to more than 250,000 cases on 17 April.
Top Glove, Medtecs International, Riverstone, UG Healthcare and Aspen Group have all gained in the April month to 16 April, averaging 11.7% gains over the 11 sessions, bringing their average 2021 year-to-date total return to 8.0%.
Aside from medical suppliers, the most traded Singapore-listed healthcare-related stocks in 2021 have included Thomson Medical Group, Haw Par Corp, Raffles Medical Group, Q&M Dental Group and Parkway Life REIT. The 5 stocks averaged a 1.0% gain over the past 11 sessions, bringing their median year-to-date total return to 26.0%.
Econ Healthcare (Asia) Limited, the largest private nursing home operator by revenue in Singapore and Malaysia, has listed on Catalist on 19 April.

Progress in COVID-19 vaccination roll-out across has now seen close to 900 million doses administered across the globe. Data from ourworldindata.org also shows that the current total number of confirmed cases (assumed lower than the actual number due to limited testing) is over 140 million cases. While the daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 has returned to January highs, the smoothed 7-day rolling average has recently risen above its January 2021 high to 766,231 cases on 17 April. Daily new Infections in India have soared fivefold from more than 50,000 cases at the end of March, to more than 250,000 cases on 17 April.

7-Day Rolling Average of Daily New Global COVID-19 Cases

Top Glove (SGX:BVA), Medtecs International (SGX:546), Riverstone (SGX:AP4), UG Healthcare (SGX:8K7) and Aspen Group (SGX:1F3) have all gained in the April month to 16 April, averaging 11.7% gains. As illustrated above, this has coincided with the 7-day rolling average of daily new global COVID-19 cases returning to above 700,000 cases per day, as seen in early January, and up from the less than 400,000 cases per day reported between mid-February and early-March.

In September 2020, Aspen Group announced its diversification into the manufacturing and distribution of rubber gloves in a joint venture with CMY Capital Sdn Bhd. Aspen Holdings has been among the top 100 traded Singapore stocks so far in 2021, after ranking among the top 500 traded stocks in 1H20.

SGX Listed Medical Suppliers	SGX Code	Market Cap S$M	YTD Average Daily Turnover S$M	MTD Total Return %	YTD Total Return %	3-Year Total Return %	P/E (x)	P/B (x)
Top Glove	BVA	14,007	8.4	15.1	(8.2)	247	7	6
Medtecs International	546	563	7.7	10.8	3.0	2,210	3	2
Riverstone	AP4	2,045	5.4	12.2	24.3	175	10	5
UG Healthcare	8K7	385	3.5	11.6	7.0	878	6	3
Aspen Group	1F3	271	1.8	8.7	13.6	22	11	2

Source: SGX StockFacts, Refinitv, Bloomberg (Data as of 16 April 2021)

Singapore Airlines share price declined 2.7% in the April month-to-date (as of 16 April)

In a measured move, on the other side of the gains of the above five medical suppliers, the share price of Singapore Airlines (SGX:C6L) has declined 2.7% in the April month to 16 April.

On 15 April, Singapore Airlines noted at the end of March 2021, Group capacity reached 23% of pre-COVID levels, which was lower than the earlier expectation of around 25%, and passenger capacity is expected to be around 27% of pre-COVID levels by June 2021. Like Singapore Airlines, global Airlines have seen marginal declines in the April month-to-date, yet on average maintain double-digit year-to-date gains.

iEdge SG All Healthcare Index has gained 4.5% in the April month-to-date (as of 16 April)

For the Healthcare Sector overall, the iEdge SG All Healthcare Index has gained 4.5% in the month of April through to 16 April, bringing the 2021 year-to-date total return to 11.9%.

Aside from the aforementioned 5 medical suppliers, the most traded Singapore-listed healthcare-related stocks in 2021 have included

Thomson Medical Group (SGX:A50),
Haw Par Corporation (SGX:H02),
Raffles Medical Group (SGX:BSL),
Q&M Dental Group (SGX:QC7), and
Parkway Life REIT (SGX:C2PU).

The 5 stocks averaged a 1.0% gain over the past 11 sessions, bringing their median year-to-date total return to 26.0%.

Econ Healthcare (Asia) Limited listed on Catalist today

This morning, Econ Healthcare (Asia) Limited (SGX:EHG), the largest private nursing home operator by revenue in Singapore and Malaysia, listed on Catalist. With an issue price of S$0.28 per share, the stock ended the AM session at S$0.295 per share and a market value of S$76 million.

Econ Healthcare has track record of 30 years, and primarily provides residential nursing care, home care, rehabilitation, clinical as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine services in 10 Medicare centres and nursing homes in Singapore, Malaysia and China, with the establishment of Chongqing Nursing Home, which is expected to commence operations in 2021. According to Euromonitor, Econ Healthcare is the largest private nursing home operator in Singapore and Malaysia by revenue with a market share of 26.9% and 43.2% respectively.

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