• In 1H24, nearly half the stocks that saw their average daily turnover (ADT) more than triple CY23 levels represented the Industrials and Consumer Cyclical Sectors. Industrial stocks included Cosco Shipping, Chasen, Beng Kuang Marine, Soilbuild Construction and Wee Hur, while Consumer Cyclical stocks included Isetan and ValueMax.

• Soilbuild Construction has seen its average daily turnover grow 10-fold in 1H24, from CY23 levels, while the stock generated a 210% price gain. The surge in trading turnover followed the Group reporting it had clinched a S$647.5 million construction contract, bringing the Group’s order books beyond $1.2 billion for the first time.

• With a market capitalisation of S$47 million, Beng Kuang Marine booked S$2.4 million of net institutional inflow in 1H24, with a new substantial shareholder emerging, Ginko-AGT Global Growth Fund, which increased its direct interest in the stock to above 7% on 6 June.

More than 50 Singapore-listed stocks saw average daily turnover (ADT) grow at least 3-fold in 1H24 versus the full 2023 year (CY23).

Among these stocks, Riverstone (SGX:AP4) and Great Eastern (SGX:G07) moved into the top 50 traded stocks by average daily turnover in 1H24. While the latter is subject to a well-publicised voluntary unconditional general offer by OCBC (SGX:O39), the former reported its 1QFY24 (ended 31 March) net profit increased 54.5% y-o-y, totalling RM 72.2 million. This marked the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of sequential growth.

Cosco Shipping (SGX:F83), Yoma Strategic (SGX:Z59), Chasen (SGX:5NV), Beng Kuang Marine (SGX:BEZ) and Mermaid Maritime (SGX:DU4) all saw their average daily turnover more than triple in 1H24 from CY23 levels. As a result, these five companies have climbed to the top 100 most traded stocks in 1H24, having previously been outside the top 100 in CY23.

The 20 stocks with both the highest 1H24 average daily turnover and 1H24 average daily turnover that at least tripled CY23 levels, are tabled below.

^*Listed on Catalist
^{^}On SGX-ST watchlist
Source: SGX, Refinitiv, Bloomberg. All Data as of 30 June 2024.

Soilbuild Construction (SGX:S7P) has seen its average daily turnover grow 10-fold in 1H24 to S$194,833, from S$1,867 in CY23. This was the highest percentage growth of average daily turnover across the two periods for the 20 stocks tabled above. The stock generated a 210% price gain in 1H24 bringing the total return of the stock since the end of 2019 to 71%. The surge in trading turnover followed the Group reporting it had clinched a S$647.5 million construction contract, bringing the Group’s order books beyond S$1.2 billion for the first time. As of the end of June, the stock maintained S$139 million market capitalisation with a P/E ratio of 18x and ROE of 23%. The market capitalisation has since increased to S$150 million, with the P/E ratio at 19x in early July.

With a market capitalisation of S$47 million, Beng Kuang Marine (SGX:BEZ) booked S$2.4 million of net institutional inflow in 1H24. The S$2.4 million represented 5% of the end of June market capitalisation, the highest ratio of 1H24 net institutional inflow to June end market capitalisation in the above table. In 1H24, a new substantial shareholder for Beng Kuang Marine emerged, Ginko-AGT Global Growth Fund, which increased its direct interest in the stock to above 7% on 6 June.

AGT Partners Pte Ltd is a local fund that adopts value-driven strategies, focusing on bottom-up stock picking with an emphasis on long-term growth appreciation.

Beng Kuang Marine operates two core business divisions: Infrastructure Engineering and Corrosion Prevention. Back on 2 May, Beng Kuang Marine released a 1QFY24 business update, highlighting its S$11.3 million profit before tax in 1QFY24 (boosted by a S$5.8M one-time gain from a partial property sale) surpassed its FY23 turnaround profit before tax of S$10.8 million. Beng Kuang Marine was placed on the SGX Watch-List under the Financial Entry Criteria in June 2023.

Note the while the above 20 stocks generated average/median total returns of 106%/48% in 1H24, they have also seen higher volatility in their share prices over the past six months.

The next 20 stocks with both the highest 1H24 average daily turnover and 1H24 average daily turnover that at least tripled CY23 levels, are tabled below. Note that multiple stocks in the table below maintain comparatively low market capitalisation and average daily turnover.

^*Listed on Catalist
^{^}On SGX-ST watchlist
Source: SGX, Refinitiv, Bloomberg. All Data as of 30 June 2024.