Singapore’s stock market benchmark, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), started the new year positively. For the month of January, the index rose 4%, or 121 points, to 3,190. Of the 30 Straits Times Index components, 28 were in the positive territory, while the remaining two were in the red. The biggest winner of the lot was Thailand’s leading beverage producer, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (SGX: Y92). Shares in the producer of Chang beer led the pack with a 19.7% increase to S$0.73 each. The rise is a sharp reversal from last year’s performance where the company posted a negative 31.7% total shareholder return. For the financial year ended 30 September 2018, Thai Beverage’s revenue grew 21% to THB 229.7 billion, but net profit attributable to shareholders fell 46% to

Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01) owns the following businesses – Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian and 7-Eleven in Singapore. In short, the company operates supermarkets, hypermarkets, health and beauty, convenience, home furnishings stores, and restaurants. Since 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2018, Dairy Farms’ total return, with dividends reinvested, has come in at 18.1%, easily beating the performance by the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) that saw a decline of 6.5%. With the outperformance in Dairy Farm’s share price, is the company still a bargain? To find out we will be using three metrics, namely, its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, its dividend yield and its net-debt-to-equity ratio. The consumer conglomerate is currently trading at US$9.48 and has a trailing twelve months (

Christmas is over. We didn’t have chestnuts roasting on an open fire and we didn’t have Frosty the Snowman, either – it’s much too warm for that in Singapore. But Santa Claus did come to town. And in the case of, us, dividend investors, it could almost be Christmas every day. When it comes to income investing, it can sometimes feel like Christmas every month of the year. But the reliability of the income stream can depend on whether we have been naughty or nice, which in the case of dividend investors is whether we have been successful with our stock selections. Since starting a column in The Business Times some 12 months ago, I have looked at a myriad of sectors. They range from pedestrian Real Estate Investment Trusts to high-flying airlines… …. But they all have one thin

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past 10 years, the global economy has been through some really rough times, with the great financial crisis being the most jarring episode. It would thus mean that a company that can grow its dividends in the past decade has a business that has some stability and sustainability in the past – and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, we will look at three of these companies that have grown their dividends for dividend investors b

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past 10 years, the global economy has been through some really rough times, with the great financial crisis being the most jarring episode. It would thus mean that a company that can grow its dividends in the past decade has a business that has some stability and sustainability in the past – and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, we will like to share with you five blue chip stocks which have managed to grow their dividend pa

Welcome to a brand-new week, everyone. Here are three things about the local stock market that you might be interested in today. 1. The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) climbed 43.6 points, or 1.4%, to end the day at 3,102.8. Of the 30 index components, 22 finished in the green, with Venture Corporation Ltd (SGX: V03) leading the pack. The electronics manufacturing service provider’s shares rose 5.3% to S$14.40 each. Meanwhile, the biggest loser of the index was Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), which fell 1% to US$9.01. Three other blue-chips finished Monday in the red, with the remaining four ending the day unchanged. 2. CapitaLand Limited (SGX: C31) is acquiring a prime office building in Shanghai, China. In an announcement before the stock market opened today, CapitaL

The Straits Times Index (STI) is made up of the 30 strongest and most liquid stocks listed in Singapore. Comprising close to 80% of the entire market value in Singapore, the returns that the stocks on the STI provides is essentially the market returns or benchmark returns. For investors who are new or prefer taking a hands-off approach, being able to invest in the STI can be the most practical way to invest. This is primarily because it offers several advantages such as diversifying our investment portfolio with just one investment as well as receiving the market returns without requiring much knowledge or spending time monitoring and adjusting our portfolios. Currently, there are two listed STI exchange traded funds (ETFs) – the SPDR STI ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF – that w

2018 was a challenging year for Singapore investors. The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), Singapore’s stock market barometer, was down by 9.8% in 2018. Despite the market decline for the year, there are a number of stocks that delivered positive returns in 2018. In this series of articles, I will look back into the year and identify six of the index’s biggest winners, as well as six of the largest losers. In this article, I will be covering the winners from the first to third position. The first part of the series can be found here and here. The third best performer In third place is ComfortDelgro Corporation Limited (SGX: C52), a transport company with operations mainly in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, and China. It is also the majority owner of vehicle and non-vehicle

Singapore’s stock market benchmark, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), ended December in the red. For the month, the index tumbled 1.6% to 3,069. Of the 30 index components, 10 were in the positive territory, three were flat while the remaining 17 were in the red. The top three best-performers of the Straits Times Index for December were Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36), Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01) and Wilmar International Limited (SGX: F34).Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Jardine Matheson is a diversified Asian-based business group with interests in a few listed entities in Singapore, including Dairy Farm. The latter operates supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, and health and beauty, and home furnishings stores in Asia. For its

There are two major listed supermarket shares in Singapore. Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01) runs its retail business under brands such as Guardian, Cold Storage, Giant Hypermarket, and 7-Eleven while Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8) operates its namesake-branded stores. Interestingly, both company shares have outperformed the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) in 2018. Given the interest in the companies, investors might want to know which of the two supermarkets they should consider investing now. As such, I would like to put both companies up for a side-by-side comparison. To start, I will compare the earnings performance of both companies for the first half of the year. The objective is to find out which of the two did a better job. The showdown Let’s begin wi

In 2018, stocks that are listed on Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) has seen an increase in volatility compared to 2017. This heightened volatility has also translated into a higher trading turnover for more than half of the STI stocks. Read Also: Complete Guide To Investing In The STI ETF Trading turnover is simply calculated as the price of a stock multiplied by its trading volume. When a stock’s trading turnover surges, it usually means there is more interest in the company. This can be either a good or bad thing as investors find reasons to buy up the stock or sell down the stock. A surge in trading volume can also represent institutional investors actively investing in or selling the stock. As the STI has declined by close to 11.2% in 2018, it shouldn’t come as a surprise t

Dollar cost averaging (or DCA) is a simple technique that allows you to invest large sums of money over a period of time. For example, if you have $12,000, you don’t invest the lump sum right away but split if over let’s say 12 months. This way, when prices are low, investors will automatically purchase more with $1,000 and when prices are high, he will purchase less. The goal is not to time the market to get the cheapest price, but to obtain the average price. Dollar cost averaging is primarily used by long term investors who do not wish to time the market. Regular Savings Plan DCA is normally used in conjunction with regular savings plan offered by several banks and brokerages in Singapore. These services automate the entire process for you. They have differing charges and a

Singapore’s Strait Times Index (SGX: ^STI) has had a rough 2018, falling 9.1% from the start of the year until the end of November. Despite the market’s tantrums, not all blue-chip stocks have performed badly. With that in mind, let’s look at the top five performing companies and the returns they have provided to investors this year (data as of 30 November 2018): Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01) is a member of the Jardine group of companies. Dairy Farm’s is a pan-Asian retailer that operates supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health and beauty stores, and home furnishing stores. Some of the familiar brand names under the company’s portfolio are Giant, Guardian, and Cold Storage. Dairy Farm is the top performing stock on the STI this yea

Someone requested the data for stock market valuations stretching back to 2008 low so I thought I share it with everyone. Just a reference point for everyone. Changes in composition I was having a discussion with a friend who was commenting that the composition of the STI had changed significantly over the last decade – with the banks making up a larger percentage of the index today (upwards of 40%). He remarked that Singtel used to make up a bigger proportion of the Straits Times Index but that the banks had really powered ahead post GFC – continually making up an ever increasing proportion of the Straits Times Index. This might affect historical comparisons Readers should keep in mind that weighting of the largest  constituents have changed over the years – making

Ted Sturgeon was a sci-fi author who claims that "90% of everything is crap" and this chapter proposes that the same applies for the stock market. This is useful when you decide what kind of media to indulge in. 90% of all fiction is crap. 90% of all Netflix shows are crap. In a moment of self-reflection, perhaps 90% of investment training is crap so I need to constantly improve my training slides.While preparing stock screens for this weekend's class to demonstrate this concept, I wanted to see how many stocks fall into this category in SGX :a) Cannot be a ADR, GDR, China Stock or a REIT.b) Cannot have a market capitalisation below $50M. c) Must have revenue above 150% of the average of the remaining counters after step (b).d) Must have an operating cash flow above the average o

The Straits Times Index is made of the 30 largest and most liquid stocks listed in Singapore. It provides a measure for the benchmark return in Singapore, and investors use it to compare how their investment portfolios have performed. The global stock markets have mostly turned red in 2018, and the STI was not spared either. In the YTD 2018, the STI has generated a return of -6.8%. Even though the collective returns of the 30 constituent stocks was negative 6.8%, the four best performing STI stocks managed to deliver a return of nearly 13.9%. This should not be confused with 52-weeks high, as you will see in some of the charts below. Read Also: Complete Guide To Investing In The Straits Times Index ETF This week, we discuss the four best performing STI constituent stock in our column. #1 D

The Singapore Exchange is home to nearly 100 stocks with market capitalisations of more than S$1 billion. These “billionaire stocks” are from a range of sectors and geographical concentrations, giving investors a wide range of investment opportunities. Contrary to common perception that larger capitalised stocks can only deliver modest growth, as compared to smaller caps, the top performing billionaire stocks on SGX have delivered enviable returns in 2018 year-to-date, despite market corrections and overall uncertainty and volatility. In fact, the top 10 best-performing billionaire stocks averaged a total return of 29% for 2018 year-to-date. These stocks are Sri Trang (48.2%), Best World (44.0%), Top Glove (42.9%), Japfa (41.7%), M1 (26.7%), Keppel T&T (21.2%), Sheng Siong (18.4%),

I’m a value investor. As such, I like to search for companies that are trading at low valuations. A list of stocks that are near their respective 52-week lows is a good place to start my search for a good reason. These are the stocks that are either unloved or beaten down by the market. However, some of these stocks could turn out to be bargains compared to their actual economic worth. That’s because market participants can at times react too negatively to certain companies that have sound long-term prospects but have experienced some short-term stumbles. I often screen for stocks that are trading near their 52-week lows around once every week. There are many different stocks that pop up on my screen each time I run it. With that in mind, here are three companies that have turned u

For the past few weeks, the two largest supermarket operators, Sheng Siong Group (Sheng Siong) and Dairy Farm International (Dairy Farm) have reported less than stellar sets of financial results. Sheng Siong reported core 3Q18 net profit that increased by 1.5 percent to $17.7 million compared to a year ago, while revenue rose 8 percent to $227.9 million.  Despite a healthy growth in the top line, the bottom line was impacted by higher-than-expected administrative expenses which were 16.6 percent higher on due to higher store counts. For Dairy Farm, earnings results are released semi-annually. However, market talks have surfaced regarding the management’s contemplation over a bulk sale of its Giant stores. The market rumours arose when news of several Giant outlets were or due to shutter

A year ago, Phillip Capital Management, along with Lion Global Investors, launched the Lion-Phillip S-REIT ETF. The ETF aimed to give investors a way to invest in a diversified basket of Singapore REITs (S-REITs) which paid a steady stream of distributions. (At the moment, the average distribution yield for S-REITs is 6.8%.) The ETF was met with a largely positive response from the market – Lion Global Investors and Phillip Capital Management initially aimed to raise S$40-50 million but exceeded their target when the fund raised over S$100 million last October. Capitalizing on the Singapore market’s appetite for yield, Phillip Capital Management has now launched the Phillip SING Income ETF. The initial offer period for the ETF will close at 11:00 a.m. on 19 October 2018 before its list