On 3 August, Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96) released its 2018 second-quarter earnings update. As a quick introduction, Sembcorp Industries is a conglomerate with four major business segments: Utilities; Marine; Urban Development; and Other Businesses. The Marine segment is made up of Sembcorp Industries’ 61% ownership stake in the Singapore-listed marine engineering firm, Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SGX: S51). Here are 10 things investors should know about Sembcorp Industries’ latest results: 1. Revenue for the reporting quarter improved by 47% year-on-year to S$3.34 billion. 2. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) fell by 19% year-on-year to S$268 million. 3. Profit from operations declined by 13% year-on-year to S$192.1 million, driven mainly by

Share buybacks can be beneficial for shareholders if done for the correct reasons. Here are three stocks picked at random that have repurchased their shares thus far during the week, as of market open today. Stamford Land Corporation Ltd (SGX: H07) Stamford Land is Australasia’s largest independent owner and operator of luxury hotels. It has a portfolio of prime hotels and investment properties in Australia and New Zealand. On 1 August 2018, the company bought back 1,140,900 shares at S$0.48 per share. The cost came up to around S$548,500. The recent share buyback is the first for the company in recent history. Stamford Land shares closed at S$0.495 apiece on Thursday. This translates to a price-to-book (PB) ratio of 0.8 and a dividend yield of 2%. AEM Holdings Ltd (SGX: AWX) AEM

Venture Corp Chart 1(Click on Technical Chart above to Expand to read the Full Illustrations)Attached is the technicals of Venture Corp -- STI index component tech stock. The light-orange circled region is my live analysis on 15th July 2016 forewarning that technology stocks and the NASDAQ back then were about to rally massively, and that Venture would massively rally as well (refer to past track record here: http://donovan-ang.blogspot.com/2016/07/sgx-venture-klse-technology-index-and.html). Right after my preempting, Venture Corp rallied from my $8.82 buy point to hit $28.81, a returns of +327% in just 2 years.The dark-orange circled region is my live analysis in January 2018 calling for most tech stocks such as Venture Corp to start peaking for sector rotation from technology

As we enter 2H18, investors are now busy pruning their portfolio and re-allocating their cash into different markets. If you are one of them and looking for ideas on how you should re-allocate your portfolio, DBS thinks that Singapore should be one of the markets that you should overweight in your portfolio. Here are three reasons why DBS thinks you should take an overweight position on the Singapore market. 3 Reasons Why You Should Take An Overweight Position On The Singapore Market Singapore’s Economic Transformation Underway To Make Singapore More Attractive For Investments Singapore’s economy is historically heavy on exports. However, the Singapore government is working on an economic transformation to steer Singapore towards a more broad-based economy with the services sector to

Companies repurchasing their shares could be a signal to the market that they are undervalued. Let’s look at three firms picked at random that have repurchased their shares thus far during the week, as of market open today. Keppel Corporation Limited (SGX: BN4) Keppel Corporation has four business divisions – Offshore & Marine (O&M), Property, Infrastructure and Investments. The O&M division is one of the world’s largest oil rig builders. On 23 and 24 July 2018, the conglomerate bought back a total of 439,000 shares at a price range of between S$7.02 and S$7.06 per share. The total cost came up to slightly below S$3.1 million. Keppel Corporation shares closed at S$6.86 each on Thursday. This translates to a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of 32 and a dividend yield of 3.5%.

Stocks selling near their 52-week low prices might prove to be good bargains for investors. Even among the blue-chip companies of the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), several stocks are trading near their respective 52-week low prices. Let’s look at three of them which are trading close to their 52-week low prices. They are Hutchison Port Hldg Trust (SGX: NS8U), Wilmar International Limited (SGX: F34) and Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96). Source: Google Finance and SGX StockFacts (data as of 24 July 2018) Hutchison Port announced its financial results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2018 on Monday this week. For the latest period, revenue and other income dipped 3.6% year-on-year to HK$2.79 billion while net profit plunged 36.8% to HK$170 million. The bottom line was hit by

Sembcorp Marine:23 July 2018, Monday, 11.50am Singapore Time(Click on Technical Chart above to Expand)Attached above is the Technicals for Sembcorp Marine. It is currently down -5.102% at $1.860 and using bad news to do a final price action backtest confirmation of its new spring (transition from winter to spring for the industry). Following the massive cup and handle bullish accumulation and its violent breakout, it is currently forming a minor double bottom in purple (again, using fear for chalking up accumulation-buys). This purple trajectory is currently backtesting the resistance-turned-support band in black. The volume flow remains a highly bull market volume flow. I expect Sembcorp Marine to break out beyond $3.00 in 2019. Donovan Norfolk Ang

MARKET OVERVIEW-The market looked set for a nervous start as trade conflict returned to the fore after US President Trump expanded his tariff threats on all US$500b of Chinese imports and accused both China and EU of currency manipulation.- Technically, the STI could face some resistance at 3,300 with next upside objective at 3,340, while underlying support remains at 3,190-3,200.CORPORATE RESULTS*Sembcorp Marine- Dismal 2Q18 net loss of $55.6m (2Q17: $5.1m profit) blew estimates out of the water due to lower work volume and loss on sale of a semi-submersible rig. - Revenue surged 151% to $1.63b, boosted by delivery of two Borr Drilling jack-ups and sale of West Rigel semi-submersible but excluding these rig sales, revenue would have sunk 12% to $572m.- Dived into operating loss of $52.6m,

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers have collectively agreed to raise supply as of 1 July 2018, which deals with the unplanned supply disruptions in Venezuela, Iran, Libya and Nigeria. OPEC agreed to raise production but will remain in its previously agreed quota of 32.5 million barrels per day. Remarks made by Iran and Iraq suggest that a supply boost of 0.7 to 0.8 million barrels per day was expected while the Saudis said that output should increase by an extra 1 million barrels per day. The second half of the year typically sees higher demand for crude oil hence a tighter supply is expected. As a result, UOBKH believes that the market could still be undersupplied hence it helps to set a floor price of US$70 per barrel. The stability in cru

Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96) is a bona-fide conglomerate with four major business segments: Utilities; Marine; Urban Development; and Others. The Marine segment’s contribution comes from Sembcorp Industries’ 61% ownership stake in Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SGX: S51). At the current price of S$2.75, Sembcorp Industries’ shares are just 1.9% higher than a 52-week low of S$2.70. This raises a question: Is Sembcorp Industries actually cheap now? This question is important because if Sembcorp Industries is cheap, it might be a good opportunity for investors. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. But, we can still get some insight by comparing Sembcorp Industries’ current valuations with the market’s. The three valuation metrics I will focus on are the price-to-book (PB) ratio

Market Sentiments This week, Singapore played host to the historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Progress towards peace is significant and wonderful, both from a humanitarian perspective and an economic one. While nuclear tensions are de-escalating on the Korean peninsular, the trade war between the US and China continues to simmer, with China announcing on Friday that “all economic and trade achievements previously reached by the two parties will no longer be valid”. Singapore’s (relatively small) economy has large exposure to global trade and commerce, and investors have been concerned. The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3356.73 this week, the lowest it has been in a month. Read Also: Complete Guide To Investing In The STI E

I’m a value investor. So, I like to search for companies that are trading at good value. 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 neglected or beaten down by investors. And, some of these stocks can be bargains in relation to their actual economic worth 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. As such, I will screen for stocks that are trading near 52-week lows nearly once every week. There are many stocks that pop up on my screen each time I run it. So, what are the companies that have shown up on this week’s list? Here are three of them: M1 Ltd (SGX:

MARKET OVERVIEW- The market is likely to remain lacklustre as as investors turn their attention to major central bank meetings this week after shrugging off Tue's Trump-Kim summit, while trade tensions continue to simmer in the background with US going to put out a list of China imports subject to 25% tariffs on Fri.- While the Fed widely expected to raise its key interest rate by 25bps, market is more interested in the guidance if it would hike three or four times this year.- Meanwhile, ECB meeting this Thu could touch on QE exit , while BoJ policy decision on Fri could continue to be supportive.- Technically, the STI is testing its 200-dma at 3,430, with next support level at 3,340. Immediate resistance remains at 3,510 (near 50-dma).MACRO WATCH*Property- According to real estate portal

Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96), is a conglomerate with four major business segments: Utilities; Marine; Urban Development; and Others. The Marine segment’s contribution mainly comes from Sembcorp Industries’ 61% ownership stake in Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SGX: S51). At the current price of S$2.93, the company’s stock is just 1.4% higher than its 52-week low of S$2.89. 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 Sembcorp Industries has a high quality business, its current low stock 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 q

MARKET OVERVIEW- Market is likely to remain choppy as trade issues are likely to dominate ahead of contentious G-7 meeting but better China headlines. - Tech and bank counters may come under pressure after US semicap equipment makers took a hit and 10Y Treasury yield tumbled 9bps to 2.89%.- Technically, the STI could face some weakness with immediate resistance seen at 3,510 (near 50-dma) and underlying support at 3,428 (200-dma).POSITIVE NEWS*Sunpower Group- Secured two manufacturing & services contracts worth Rmb95.5m from Shandong NHU, a repeat customer, for the world's largest amino acid project.- The group will start the supply of equipment in 2H18 and expects completion of delivery in early 2019 with positive impact on its FY18/19 performance.- This is in addition to its existing rec

In part one of our two-part series, we highlighted the exploration & productions (E&P) play as a strategy that proxy the movement of crude oil prices. In the second part of the series, we focus on three other investment strategies that DBS recommends for investors looking to gain exposure to rising crude oil prices. Investors Takeaway: Strategies To Ride On Crude Oil Prices Targeting Growth And Yield Plays In the current investment climate, Oil & Gas (O&G) plays are typically undervalued. However, if investors look close enough, there are still O&G gems that offer both growth and yield at the same time. These gems are worthy additions into one’s investment portfolio that offers exposure to rising crude oil prices and at the same time a good margin of safety. 1. China

We are reaching the tail-end of the earnings season. Given that many companies have already reported their results, it might be useful to categorise them into three buckets of positive, negative and mixed. In this article, I will look at two companies that have recently reported mixed results. M1 Ltd  (SGX: B2F) is the first company that we will look at in this article. As a quick introduction, M1 is the smallest player within Singapore’s telecommunications industry, sitting behind Starhub Ltd  (SGX: CC3) and leader, Singapore Telecommunications Limited  (SGX: Z74). M1’s business can be broken down into four segments, namely, mobile services, fixed services, international call services, and handset sales. In its first quarter results for 2018 (Q1 FY18), M1 reported that re

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful methods 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 that were in the list of the top 10 stocks that have seen the highest net sales

The general consensus in the market is to ‘Sell In May And Go Away’. While DBS does not think that the stock market is going down in 2018 (having just raised its year-end estimate of STI to 3,850), DBS thinks that the near-term performance of the Singapore market might take a slight dip. With the World Cup coming up in a month’s time, it could be a time for investors to look for a break in the month of May. Historically, the Straits Times Index fell by an average of 8.6 percent during the past six tournaments as trading activity starts to slow in May. Based on past statistics, the best market re-entry time is in the beginning of July, if history repeats. Investors Takeaway: 3 Stock Strategies To Recalibrate Your Portfolio Ahead Of FIFA World Cup Mid-To-Late-Cycle Plays As Singapo

Last week, Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96)  released its 2018 first quarter earnings. As a quick introduction, Sembcorp Industries is a bona-fide conglomerate with four major business segments: Utilities; Marine; Urban Development; and Others. The Marine segment’s contribution comes from Sembcorp Industries’ 61% ownership stake in Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SGX: S51). Here are nine important things to know about Sembcorp Industries’ latest results: 1. Revenue for the reporting quarter jumped by 30% year-on-year to S$2.76 billion. 2. But, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the quarter actually fell by 17% year-on-year to S$286 million. 3. Profit from operations for the quarter declined harder, as it came in at S$213 million, 21% lower co