For the past seven quarters, STI failed to beat earnings expectations as there were more misses than beats. However, in 4Q18, STI finished the quarter where the beats exceeded misses. That being said, the quality was less than ideal with most of the beats coming from one-off gains. Besides that, conservative estimates also helped some STI stocks to emerge as beats. Moving forward, CIMB recommends investors to invest in quality stocks that have the potential to become solid earnings beater. Investors Takeaway: 4 Large Caps To Invest In If You Are Looking For Quality CapitaLand CapitaLand finished FY18 with a strong finish, locking in ROE of 9.3 percent for the full year. With strong capital deployment from $4.1 billion worth of divestments and $6.1 billion of new investments in 2018, CIMB

S-REITs have been putting up an outstanding performance against the rest of the Singapore market. The outperformance of the SREITs so far has been due to the contribution of large and selective mid-cap REITs. DPU Growth Outlook Starting To Look Stronger Moving forward, the distribution per unit (DPU) outlook for the REIT sector continues to remain strong. CIMB projects that DPU will grow 1-2 percent in 2019 and 2020, which was stronger than the 0.5 percent growth registered in 2018. The growth will be achieved through a combination of positive rental growth as well as contributions from new acquisitions made in 2018. Laggard Plays In The Office And Hospitality Sectors In terms of strategy, CIMB recommends investors to continue being overweight on S-REITs as S-REIT share price will continu

By Mak Yuen Teen On 14 March 2019, Datapulse Technology Limited’s (“Datapulse”) shareholders will vote on the company’s proposed acquisition of Hotel Aropa in Seoul, together with six other resolutions. Before going into the resolutions, we should reflect on what has taken place up to now. In November 2017, Ms Ng Siew Hong (NSH) bought 29 percent of the shares at 55 cents per share, at a more than 50 percent premium. Soon after, Datapulse bought Wayco, which it is now selling back after incurring considerable fees and expenses.  This was a deal recommended by NSH. Did NSH pay 55 cents per share to get Datapulse to buy Wayco (and possibly the other Way Group companies) because she truly believed that Wayco and the hair case business was the future for Datapulse? In my opinion, the

In early 2017, Sabana REIT has been getting a lot of attention when a small group of unitholders moved to kick out the manager for delivering poor performance since its IPO in 2010. Early investors who bought Sabana at an IPO price of S$1.05 are now sitting on huge losses – Sabana last traded at just 41.5 cents per share at time of writing. If we look at the history, Sabana REIT isn’t alone. There are several other Singapore REITs (S-REITs) like Saizen REIT, MacarthurCook Industrial REIT and Allco REIT that have run into trouble before and caused a dent in Singapore’s REIT sector. Despite some casualties, Singapore’s REIT market remains vibrant – largely thanks to the majority of S-REITs that continue to deliver good results to income investors. In this article, we look at the pe

The US Federal Reserve has indicated that 2019 will likely see slower interest rate hikes. This comes on the back of mounting macroeconomic uncertainties, that has seen investors turn to less risky investments. This may benefit REITs in three ways: # 1 Traditionally, REITs take on a lot of debt to fund its capital-intensive property investments. Slower interest rate hikes in 2019 will ease the growing pressure on REITs, in terms of debt repayment. # 2 Markets are efficient – which means that prices of REITs would have taken into consideration that rate hikes would continue as normal. This stance of slowing down the interest rate hikes in 2019 is new information for the market, and may give REITs a boost. (Do note that most of this new information should already be priced into the markets

In many other countries, Airbnb has been the biggest disruption to the hospitality industry in recent years, providing travellers with a home away from home and sometimes a cheaper alternative to typical hotel rooms. However, in countries such as Singapore and Japan, strict government regulations on housing mean that hotels are still the go-to accommodation for inbound travellers. For Singapore, private homes have a minimum rental period of 3 consecutive months. For HDBs, the minimum rental period is even longer at 6 months. Other regulations such as a maximum number of tenants and occupants allowed in each flat also have to be adhered to. Read Also: Airbnb Or Hotel: Which Should You Choose For Your Next Holiday? Hospitality REITs in Singapore There are five hospitality REITs in Singap

With the negative momentum from 2018, the STI could remain under pressure despite the strong performance in January 2019, according to RHB. While the valuation and dividend yield of STI makes it compelling for long-term investments, RHB thinks that investors should continue to stay selective in navigating the market in 2019. RHB recommends four investment strategies that focus on stocks with stable earnings, strong balance sheets and sustainable dividends. Investors Takeaway: 4 Investment Strategies To Navigate Singapore’s Stock Market By RHB Rotate Into Defensive Sectors While RHB notes that the markets could move sideways for now, RHB believes that now is not the time to abandon risk assets, especially for long-term investors. RHB highlights that the current sell-off in the market is

Despite lower DPS this quarter, CDL Hospitality Trust (SGX: J85) has the potential to turn things around in 2019.

In this article, we continue to highlight some of CIMB’s top alpha picks for the New Year. For investors who are seeking to outperform the market, here are four large cap stocks that CIMB thinks will fit your investment goal in 2019. Investors Takeaway: Kick Off 2019 With These 4 Alpha Large Caps By CIMB CapitaLand According to CIMB, CapitaLand managed to put in a strong performance in 2018, achieving a 9M18 return-on-equity (ROE) of 6.9 percent. This puts it well on track to hit its annual ROE eight percent target and positions CapitaLand for a strong year in 2019. Heading into 2019, CIMB notes that strong capital deployment following the divestment of $4 billion of assets and $6.1 billion of new investments announced to-date should continue to drive forward ROE expansion. In 2019, Ca

In today’s connected markets, macro events in one market can have rippling impact on the world. For example, the trade war spat between the two largest economies in the world has created uncertainty over global economic growth in 2019. The stock market was starting to find its footing until the unthinkable trade war took place. According to CIMB, here are some things investors should be looking out for in the market that would determine the market outlook in 2019. Trade War Is Here To Stay For investors who are looking for a cease fire to the trade war to re-lift market spirits, you might have to wait further. CIMB notes that the trade war spatter is likely to continue in 2019 and is not going to cease fire anytime soon (despite recent optimism of a deal). While it is clear that business