Here are three of the most popular articles that have appeared on The Motley Fool Singapore’s website over the past week. 10 Largest Singapore Shares Paying Quarterly Dividends Want to know about the 10 biggest Singapore companies that pay dividends every quarter? Look no further. Some of the companies discussed in Lawrence Nga’s article include CapitaLand Mall Trust (SGX: C38U), Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U), and DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05). 3 Top Growth Stocks You Should Buy Now iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY), Straco Corporation Limited (SGX: S85), and Boustead Projects Ltd (SGX: AVM) could grow in the years ahead. Want to know why? Jump into Royston Yang’s article to find out. Investing in Asia – Malaysia: The World’s Worst Stock Market? David Kuo has start

There are 34 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), five stapled trusts and three property trusts listed on Singapore’s stock exchange. The sector has a combined market capitalisation of nearly S$100 billion, with Retail, Industrial and Office REITs making up the largest segments. In general, the REIT structure is one of Singapore investors’ favourite investment vehicles, mainly due to the predictability of their earnings over the long term. Yet, not all REITs are created equally, and some perform stronger than the rest over the longer term. In this article, I’ll look at three best-performing Singapore REITs in the last three years (data as of 26 April 2019). REIT 1 The first REIT on our list is Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U). As a quick introduction, Mapletree Log

JB Foods Ltd (SGX: BEW) is a food company focusing on the production and sale of cocoa ingredient products, namely, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, cocoa mass and cocoa cake. At its current price of S$0.68, the company’s stock has risen 24% in the last twelve months. This captured my attention and got me interested in finding out more about the company. In particular, I want to understand: Does it have a high-quality business? This question is important. If JB Foods has a high-quality business, its current low share price could be an investment opportunity. Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to the question. But, a simple metric can help shed some light on the question: the return on invested capital (ROIC). A brief introduction to the ROIC In a previous article of mine, I explained how

It only took one ten-letter word from the US Federal Reserve to unsettle an entire market. That word was “transitory”. The word seems innocuous enough. It means temporary, brief, short-lived, passing and momentary. In other words, it means that something isn’t going to be around for a long time…. …. but when the term is applied to the low inflation rates we are experiencing, it has far-reaching implications. The market was expecting – or should that be betting – that the Fed would cut interest rates at its latest meeting. They were lulled into believing that the Fed would bend to the wishes of the White House. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone that the Trump administration has been pushing for a 1% cut in interest rates and a resumption of Quant

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at two Singapore REITs that have seen the highest net purchase in dollar value by institutional investors for

Chances are that if you’ve ever done any DIY at home – hanging a picture, drilling of any sort or mounting a TV to the wall – then you’ve probably used a product made by Techtronic Industries Company Limited (SEHK:669). Founded in 1995, the Hong Kong-listed company owns and manufactures a number of recognisable household brands in the handheld power tools segment, such as Ryobi, Milwaukee Electric and Homelite. With that, here are three things investors should know about this innovative and fast-growing company. 1. Occupies a niche in the cordless segment The company has carved out a niche and reputation for reliable cordless power tools for use in both the retail and industrial market. Its highly-regarded Ryobi ONE+ brand of cordless tools has witnessed strong growth and in 2018 r

Join The Motley Fool Singapore’s David Kuo every week on his new “Investing in Asia podcast”, available for download on iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher. He will be providing his insights and expertise as an investor in Asia, home to some of the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing countries. In this episode, David doesn’t venture far, looking at Malaysia, a country Bloomberg recently stated was home to “the world’s worst stock market”. But how much truth is there to this gloomy outlook? More importantly, are there opportunities for investors to benefit from an unloved market?   David Kuo: Hello, Asia. Greetings, world. This is Investing in Asia — your weekly investing podcast from Motley Fool Asia — broadcasting from the islan

There are many shares in Singapore’s stock market that pay a dividend. Some pay a dividend on a quarterly basis, some do it semi-annually, while there are others who pay a dividend only once every year. A recent report from the local bourse operator Singapore Exchange Limited  (SGX: S68) shed some light on the 10 biggest stocks here that pay quarterly dividends. Here are some highlights from the report. Eight out of the top ten stocks on the list above are real estate investment trusts (REITs). Some of the names are CapitaLand Mall Trust (SGX: C38U), Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: T82U), SPH REIT (SGX: SK6U), and Keppel REIT (SGX: K17U). Four out of the eight REITs are related to Mapletree. These are Mapletree Commercial Trust (SGX: N2IU), Mapletree Industrial Trust (SG

Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U), or MLT, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns 141 logistics properties around Asia and Australia. The Manager of MLT had given a presentation on the REIT’s latest results. In the presentation deck, I saw three slides on the REIT’s business that I think investors should pay attention to. Summary of results Source: Mapletree Logistic Trust Results Presentation The above is a summary of MLT’s latest earnings update. Overall, we can see that all metrics came in ahead of the same period last year. The stronger performance was mainly driven by growth from the existing portfolio, as well as contributions from its latest acquisitions. As of 31 March 2019, the REIT’s gearing stood at 36.2% whilst its committed occupancy rate was 98.0

Its earnings season again. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have always been one of the favourite investment choices for risk adverse investors due to its stable earnings qualities. In this article, I will look at two REITs that have lived up to their investors’ expectation by delivering positive performance in their latest earnings updates. Let’s start with Parkway Life REIT (SGX: C2PU). As a quick background, Parkway Life REIT is one of the largest listed healthcare REITs in Asia by asset size. The REIT has ownership over three private hospital properties locally and hold stakes in 46 healthcare-related assets in Japan. It also has strata-titled units/lots in Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Malaysia. For the first quarter ended 31 March 2019, gross revenue grew 2.1% to

This week, another few real estate investment trusts (REITs) will be releasing results for the first quarter of 2019. REIT prices have shot up this year, in part due to the United States Federal Reserve’s more dovish stance on interest rates. With that in mind, I will be keeping an eye on two REITs, in particular, that will be releasing results soon – CDL Hospitality Trust (SGX: J85) and Ascott Residence Trust (SGX: A68U). Turnaround on the cards? CDL Hospitality Trust owns 19 properties across eight countries. The hospitality-focused trust reported slightly disappointing numbers in the fourth quarter of 2018 with net property income and distribution per security falling 5.4% and 2.1% respectively. The drop was partly due to divestments of two hotels in Australia and the closure of Dhe

2018 marked the 10th anniversary of ISEC Healthcare Ltd‘s (SGX: 40T) business, which was founded in 2007 in Malaysia. The group has four eye care centres in Malaysia and one in Singapore and counts 24 ophthalmologists and two anesthesiologists among its ranks. It also has a network of five general practitioner clinics in Singapore, which provide referrals to its maiden eye care clinic here. Recently, ISEC released its 2018 annual report. Here are some highlights investors may have missed. Key developments in 2018 In August 2018, ISEC expanded its general medical services by acquiring a 25% stake in I Medical & Aesthetics Pte Ltd. ISEC non-executive chairman and independent director Sitoh Yih Pin said the investment is expected to “bring new business opportunities in the field

Last Friday, Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U), or MLT, released its 2018/19 fourth-quarter earnings update. MLT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns 141 logistics properties around Asia and Australia. Here are 10 things investors should know about MLT’s latest results: Gross revenue for the reporting quarter grew 13.0% to S$121.4 million, while net property income jumped 15.0% to S$105.0 million. Similarly, the REIT’s distribution per unit (DPU) was up by 4.5% year on year to 2.024 Singapore cents, mainly due to the higher net property income. Based on MLT’s full-year DPU of 7.941 Singapore cents and its closing unit price of S$1.46 (as of writing), the REIT has a trailing distribution yield of 5.4%. As of 31 March 2019, the REIT’s gearing stood at 36.2%, which

In the first quarter of 2019, local benchmark Straits Times Index ended flat as investors juggled between worries about higher US recession risks and the impending outcome of the US-China trade talks. The only bright spot was the S-REIT sector as it outperformed on the Fed’s dovish interest rate hike forecast. The slowdown in hike came from lower GDP growth expectations and rising unemployment, leading to the inversion of US yield curve to heighten recession fears. According to DBS, here are three investment strategies for you to jumpstart your portfolio. Investors Takeaway: 3 Investment Strategies To Jumpstart Your Portfolio By DBS Strategy 1: ‘Peak’ Interest Rate, Uncertain Growth Environment Calls For Greater Focus On Yield/Defensive Stocks According to the Fed’s dot plot, they

In Dec 2017, Chinese conglomerate HNA Group acquired all shares of CWT Ltd to successfully acquire CWT for S$1.399 bil. Since they were acquired, CWT has been combined with other assets and listed as CWT International and subsequently listed in HK. Yesterday, CWT International said it defaulted on a S$179mil loan and it has less than 24 hours to pay the funds or lose assets pledged as collateral. They have not paid accrued interest and fees worth HK$63 mil to lenders. The lenders will take possession of the assets if the amount due is not paid by 9 AM on Wednesday. The assets that are pledged under the loan facility includes CWT International’s 100% stake in Singapore based CWT Pte Ltd. Aside from this, CWT have 2 bonds outstanding. One of the bond matures in 18 April 2019 (like toda

In part two of this 6-part series, we zoom in on the outperformers of this quarter. The focus will be on the REITs that managed to put in a strong quarterly performance. Here are three REITs that had such a strong 4Q18 that investors will now wish that you own a piece of them. Investors Takeaway: 3 REITs Finishing Strong CapitaLand Mall Trust It was a solid quarter for CapitaLand Mall Trust as it returned to growth in 4Q18. Both CapitaLand Mall Trust’s 4Q18 and FY18 DPU came in above DBS’s expectations. DBS notes that while several factors were at play, the growth in distributions was mainly attributed to the Westgate acquisition and further improvements on the operational front. Besides that, there was also a broad-based improvement in net property income across CapitaLand Mall Trus

Singapore retained the crown for being the world’s second most expensive property market, with the average residential property costing around USD $1,063 psf, behind only to Hong Kong. Earlier in the month, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released their flash estimate of Singapore’s private residential property price index for 1Q2019, which fell 0.6% from the previous quarter. Source: URA Last week, we covered some of the best performing REITs listed on SGX for 1Q2019. For this week, we’ll look at the other side of the property sector: real estate developers. Read Also: 4 Stocks This Week (Best Performing REITS 1Q2019) [5 Apr 2019]: Sasseur REIT; Capitaland Retail China Trust; Keppel-KBS US REIT; Mapletree Logistics Trust There are around 70 real estate developers and operators

With 34 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), five stapled trusts and three property trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), most investors would know by now that property is a major component of the SGX. In this week’s edition of 4 Stocks This Week, we look at four stocks within the Singapore REITs sector that have outperformed not just the general stock market, but also their peers in the REITs sector. Read Also: Complete Guide To Investing In Singapore REITs #1 Sasseur REIT (SGX: CRPU) We discussed about Sasseur a month ago as possibly a stock to watch for due to its low price-book ratio and it comes as no surprise to us that the stock has done extremely well since, increasing from $0.725 (8 March) to $0.80 (5 April). Since the start of the year, the company has generated a r

This week, news broke that big-name furniture and electronics retailer Courts Asia will be delisted from SGX after its acquisition by Nojima Asia Pacific, who would own 90.07% of Courts Asia, thus causing it to not fulfil the free float requirement to remain public. This comes after last month’s news that Singapore’s third largest telco, M1, will also be delisted, following its acquisition by a joint venture between Keppel Corporation and Singapore Press Holdings. Read Also: 4 Stocks This Week (M1 Acquisition) [28 September 2018] – Keppel; Keppel T&T; SPH; M1 One advantage of investing based on indices like the Straits Times Index (STI) is that it is self-regenerating. Index constituents are periodically reviewed (quarterly, in STI’s case) and reconstituted if particular stock

After steadily raising interest rates for the past 2 years, the Fed is indicating that it could take a pause from more interest rate hikes. The officials are signalling that they will wait and monitor the market before deciding whether the economy is strong enough for another rate hike. With interest rate risk deflating and the flight to safety trend, most S-REITs are showing significant positive return over end-2018 share price. KGI notes that this will continue to be the dominant trend moving forward. As such, despite recent capital gains, KGI believes that the current valuation of S-REITs is still moderately attractive for investors to enter into S-REIT investments. KGI: Ranking S-REITs On 4 Investment Criteria To help investors decipher which S-REITs to invest in, KGI categorised the S