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 three Singapore stocks (among the top ten stocks) that have seen the highest net disposal in dollar value

Stocks that selling near their 52-week low prices might be good bargains for value investors. Even among the well-established companies of the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), there are a number of stocks trading near their respective 52-week low prices. With that, let’s look at three shares that are selling closest to their 52-week lows. Blue-chip #1: Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (SGX: NS8U) Hutchison Port Holdings Trust is the first publicly traded container port business trust. The trust is affiliated with Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. Hutchison Port Holdings Trust has not been doing well of late. For the second quarter ended 30 June 2018, its revenue and other income tumbled 3.6% year-on-year to HK$2.79 billion while net profit

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), or SIA, is the national airline of Singapore. Aside from its traditional airline business, it also owns other brands like SilkAir and Scoot. SIA also has a subsidiary, SIA Engineering Company Ltd(SGX: S59), that specialises in aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. At the current price of S$9.73 (at the time of writing), SIA’s shares are around 18% down from its intra-day peak of S$11.84 reached in May. This raises a question: Is Singapore Airlines cheap now? This question is important because if the firm’s shares are cheap, it might be a good opportunity for investors. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. However, we can still get some insights by comparing SIA’s current valuations to the market’s valuation. T

When I attended the Singapore Airlines 2017 AGM the year before, the airline was in the midst of a challenging period – the group had reported a 55% drop in net profit and suffered over a billion dollars in losses in fuel hedging costs over the last two years due to the plunge in oil prices. Things are looking better for Singapore Airlines (SIA) this year as it reported a 69.8% increase in operating profit year-on-year to S$1.06 billion, and a 147.8% increase in net profit to S$892.9 million. In July, SIA was also named the world’s best airline in Skytrax’s 2018 World Airline Awards. SIA looks to have turned a corner, but the airline continues to face intense competition in key markets. I decided to attend the its recent annual meeting to find out how the airline intends to stay ahea

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), or SIA, is the national airline of Singapore. Aside from its traditional airline business, it also owns other brands like SilkAir and Scoot. SIA also has a subsidiary, SIA Engineering Company Ltd (SGX: S59), that specialises in aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. In this article, I want to dig deep into SIA’s return on equity, or ROE. The choice of ROE Why ROE some of you might be asking? That’s because the financial metric gives investors important insights on a company’s ability to generate a profit using the shareholders’ capital it has. A ROE of 20% means that a company generates $0.20 in profit for every dollar of shareholders’ capital invested. In general, the higher the ROE, the more profitable the company is.

On 30 July 2018, the share price of SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) closed at $2.93, which is a level not seen since 2009! Is the drop in share price simply an overreaction following its recent disappointing earnings results? Have the fundamentals changed for SIAEC or is the beaten-down share price an opportune entry point for investors? Latest Earnings In the latest 1Q19, SIAEC’s revenue declined 5.5 percent to $257.7 million. Management attributed its weak top line performance to lower airframe and component overhaul as well as fleet management revenue. The two biggest cost components of operating expenses, staffs costs and material costs fell 1.2 percent and 3.7 percent respectively, lagging the revenue decline. However, operating profit slumped 45.5 percent to $10.2 million, transla

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L) delivered a mixed set of results for the first quarter of its financial year 2018/19. Here are some of the key takeaways from its earnings update. Operating financial performance For the April-June quarter, the Singapore Airlines group reported an operating profit of S$193 million, 52.3% down from the prior year’s profit of S$405 million. However, last year’s profit included S$175 million of one-off items. Excluding these, operating profit would have been down 16.1%. Revenue inched down by 0.5% to S$3,844 million. However, this was again largely due to the absence of the one-off items recorded in the corresponding period last year. Passenger and cargo revenue had in fact increased 5.1% and 6.0% respectively. This was driven by increase in passenger tra

Performance of Straits Times Index (STI) Constituents in July 2018 The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 51.15 points or 1.54% higher to 3319.85 in July 2018.(compared to 3268.70 on 29-Jun-2018) Top Performers: Singapore Press Holdings, Jardine Strategic, Jardine Matheson, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Thai Beverages. Least Performers: Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, City Developments, Golden Agri Resources, Singapore Airlines, Venture Corp. Most Volatile: City Developments, Golden Agri Resources, UOL Group, Singapore Press Holdings, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust. Advertisement Continue Reading »

SIA Engineering Company Ltd (SGX: S59), or SIAEC for short, specialises in aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services to over 80 international airlines around the world. It’s also one of the subsidiaries of Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L). At the current price of S$3.03 (at the time of writing), SIA Engineering’s shares are just 4 cents higher than the 52-week low price of S$2.99. This raises a question: Is SIA Engineering cheap now? This question is important because if the firm’s shares are cheap, it might be a good opportunity for investors. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. However, we can still get some insights by comparing SIA Engineering’s current valuations with the market’s valuation. The three valuation metrics I will focus on are the price-to-bo

For the week, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) rose 0.8%, or 27.15 points, to 3,324.98. Of the 30 index stocks, 18 were in the green; 10 were in the red while the remaining two were flat. The biggest winner of the lot was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd (SGX: BS6). The shipbuilder’s shares put on 5.2% to S$0.905 each. Other big winners of the Straits Times Index include the three banks. United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) added 3.4% to S$27.32; Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Limited (SGX: O39) rose 3.1% to S$11.66 while DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) increased 3.1% to S$27.06. Both United Overseas Bank and DBS will be announcing their 2018 second-quarter financial results next week. On the other end of the spectrum, Hutchison Port Hldg Trust (SGX: NS8U) lost the most ground. I

A host of Jardine-related companies are set to report results on Thursday and Friday next week. Demand for Grade A office space in Central has continued to drive demand for properties owned by Hongkong Land (SGX: H78). In March, the developer said underlying profits for the year rose 14% to a record US$969.7 million. The full-year earning was also boosted by a one-off gain from a change in fair value of its investment properties. Jardine Cycle & Carriage (SGX: C07) reported a 16% jump on full-year profits in March. This was thanks to a non-trading gain of from its investment properties revaluations. The company said its Indonesian business, Astra International, should continue to benefit from improving economic conditions and stable commodity prices. Also on tap will be results from

MARKET OVERVIEW- The market is expected to grind higher amid the lack of direction and drivers as most of the early corporate results generally fall within expectations. - Privatisation offer for Wheelock Properties could trigger interest in other deeply discounted developers such as Wing Tai (0.47x P/B) and Ho Bee Land (0.52x P/B).- Technically, the STI appears to be entrapped by its 20-dma at 3,253 with further upside resistance at 3,300, while underlying support lies at around 3,190-200.CORPORATE RESULTS*Keppel T&T- 2Q18 net profit surged 138% to $26m, boosted by a $19.6m revaluation gain on Keppel DC REIT, which lifted 1H18 earnings to $35.4m (+59.5%). - Excluding the one-off gain core 1H18 profit of $15.8m (-28.8%) would have missed the sole full-year street estimate of $45.7m.- Reven

SIA Engineering Company Ltd (SGX: S59) and Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (SGX: S63) are two engineering firms that operate in a similar industry. In this article, let’s find out which of the two companies might offer a better value right now. A brief background on the firms SIA Engineering, or SIAEC for short, provides aircraft engineering services such as airframe maintenance and overhaul, line maintenance, technical ground handling and fleet management. As of 1 June 2018, our flag carrier, Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), had a 77.8% stake in SIAEC. The engineering firm also has a portfolio of 25 joint ventures in eight countries. ST Engineering, on the other hand, is a global technology, defence and engineering conglomerate specialising in the aerospace, electronics, land s

Congratulations! You’ve landed a great job in an amazing country and can’t wait to finally touch the green(er) grass on the other side. However, uprooting somewhere new isn’t always all fun and games all the time. Migrating overseas is actually a big deal that strains your mental capacity and your wallet. Based on real-life experiences, we highlight some of the costs of relocating to another country that you might not realise you need to incur. All fees and charges are subjected to change depending on each country’s immigration laws. Before You Leave Visa Application Fees Most of the time, your new company would take care of work visa and other legal documentation for you, including related charges like medical check-ups (if required) and vaccinations. If they don’t, you’

This week, Obike announced its exit from the Singapore market, citing difficulties adhering to stricter bike-sharing regulations introduced by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). This sparked a public outcry on social media, with many Obike users unable to retrieve their initial deposits. Singapore’s ride-sharing sector also made headlines this week, as Ryde filed a police report over phantom bookings and fake user accounts, claiming that one of the IP addresses linked to these fake accounts was owned by Grab. All these happenings has drawn renewed attention on Singapore’s transport sector. Concurrently, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices closed at US$74.15 this week, reaching a 3.5-year high on concerns that sanctions on Iran could choke oil supplies. Despite higher

In the second part of this two-part series, we continue to highlight four front-running stocks that DBS recommends investors to invest in the new digital era. Investors Takeaway: 4 Companies Leading Singapore’s Digital Transformation Race iFAST Corporation (iFAST) iFAST has made significant progress in the last two to three years as a wealth management Fintech player. iFAST has broadened the range of investment products and services on its platforms over the last few years. iFAST is now a more integrated wealth management platform, with five key product group (unit trusts, ETFs, bonds, stocks and insurance). Apart from growing its range of services, it has also laid the infrastructure to kick-start its business in China, a market it believes will be key to future growth. Despite

Last month, Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung expressed his belief that Singapore could one day have a Prime Minister who does not have a degree. While Singaporeans are well-aware that a degree is not one-way ticket to success, the conviction that there are multiple pathways to a fulfilling career without a degree is perhaps not as strong. But if we take a moment to look around us, we can see that there are indeed many well-paying and exciting careers that don’t require a degree for entering and excelling in. Here are 7 of our favourites. # 1 Financial Adviser Personal finance is a field that a large part of the population deem to be complex and difficult. In fact, financial advisers sometimes perpetuate this perception themselves. The pitch is that with so many insuranc

Avid travellers must have learned of the news about the impending increase in Passenger Service Charges (PSC) in Changi International Airport starting next month (1st July 2018). The rise in PSC charged per passenger will have an impact on the aviation industry in Singapore and investors should read on to find out the effect of the increased fees. Airport Development Levy As Changi Airport continues to expand to serve rising number of passengers, it has decided to charge the airport development levy on passengers departing from Changi to raise funds to develop a third runway as well as to build Terminal 5. This will result in an increase of $13.30 in PSC per passenger departing from Singapore, which represents a substantial increase in charges of 39 percent. But the raise in airport levy d

Moats are used to protect castles from invaders in the medieval ages. Similarly, economic moats can protect companies against erosion from competitors. A company with a wide economic moat has a competitive advantage over its rivals, such that it is difficult for the competitors to encroach onto its market share. In Morningstar’s book, Why Moats Matter, it described five types of economic moats that can protect a company against outside competition. They are network effect, low-cost advantage, intangible assets (such as brand value), high switching cost and efficient scale. A company that possesses one or multiple traits can fend off its competitors and will less likely be made obsolete in the future. With that in mind, I want to describe two companies in Singapore that display wide econo

As we begin to enter the second half of 2018, DBS came up with some investment strategies that investors should adopt when approaching the stock market According to DBS, June is expected to be a quiet month with trading activities and volume to be mild. Investors should expect another round of interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, to see the federal fund rate rise by another 25 basis points to 2 percent. However, the forecast and outlook for interest rate hikes should remain at three hikes in 2018. With regards to crude oil, the OPEC is scheduled to meet on 22 June 2018 and a decision is like to be reached on whether to raise production levels as proposed by Saudi Arabia and Russia. On the local front, May has not been a great month for the local stock market as the local benchmark St