Last month, 52.5 million shares or units were repurchased by 37 stocks for a total amount of S$109 million, according to a recent report by the Singapore Exchange. Compared to June 2018, the latest buyback consideration was down 37%. Blue-chip stocks took up seven spots out of the top 10 stocks with the largest buyback consideration value in July 2018. In terms of value, the five stocks with the most share buybacks were United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Wing Tai Holdings Limited (SGX: W05), Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd (SGX: BS6) and Keppel Corporation Limited (SGX: BN4). These five companies contributed to 74% of the S$109 million in total consideration. The only listed bank not featured in the list above, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Limited

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

Since reaching a year-to-date high of 3,615 in early May, local benchmark Straits Times Index has shed more than ten percent amidst the amplifying volatility and trade war concerns. According to UOBKH, the retracement is largely due to a shift in interest rate hike expectations and the US-China trade spat. Such volatile time will require specific investing strategies in order for investors to beat the market. Hunting For Oversold Stocks On A Risk Premium Basis One investing strategy that UOBKH recommends is to look out for oversold stocks, which are measured by market risk premium. UOBKH notes that stocks like Oversea-China Banking Corporation (OCBC), DBS Group Holdings (DBS), Keppel Corporation (Keppel Corp) and Wing Tai Holdings (Wing Tai) have seen a rise in risk premium that is much

The en bloc market continues its run with a number of projects being marketed, latest of which is Dalvey Court which is up for S$160m. The reserve price of S$160m for the 32 unit apartment in District 10 represents a land rate of about S$2,009 per sqft per plot ratio. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The project’s gross floor area of 7,401 sqm or 79,660 sqft can be redeveloped into an apartment with 93 units, each of which is assumed to have a unit size of 70 sqm. Located close to Botanic Gardens, Dalvey Court is near a stretch of high-profile schools such as St Joseph’s Institution, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School and Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road). Selegie Centre Just last week, news appeared that an en-bloc attempt is being done for Selegie C

A company can do a few things with the free cash flow it churns out every year. It can reinvest the money into its business, use it to pare down debt, pay dividends to shareholders, or buy back its shares. There are a few reasons why companies want to buy back their shares. Some companies might do so to support their share price. By reducing the number of shares outstanding, the earnings per share will increase. This, in turn, causes the price-to-earnings ratio to fall due to a larger denominator. The share price should then rise as the market perceives the share price to be cheaper than before the repurchase. In June this year, 74.6 million shares were repurchased by 33 companies for a total amount of S$174 million, according to a recent report by Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68). Th

Ascendas Hospitality Trust to buy three Osaka hotels for 10.29b yen ASCENDAS Hospitality Trust has on June 15 entered into an agreement with ES-CON Japan via Ascendas Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (A-HReit) to acquire three hotels in Japan’s Osaka city for a purchase consideration of 10.29 billion Japanese yen (S$126.1 million). The manager of the hospitality trust said that the acquisition of the three hotels – Hotel WBF Kitasemba West, Hotel WBF Kitasemba East and Hotel WBF Honmachi – will deepen its presence in Osaka, Japan’s third-largest city with a population of 2.7 million people. The total acquisition cost is about 11.24 billion yen, comprising the purchase consideration, 102.9 million yen of acquisition fee payable to the Reit manager, and estima

We have our regular contributor CK who often writes good insight into the industry he has an expertise on.The last contribution he has is back almost a year ago during Aug in 2017 which you can find the link below:http://foreverfinancialfreedom.blogspot.com/2017/08/guest-post-cost-of-flour-more-than-cost.htmlThis is a continuation to the update this year in Jun of 2018.The business model for a real estate developer is that of building and selling of properties. Hence, the key performance metrics of a developer is the ability to procure all raw materials (land, construction cost etc.) and sell to the end consumer at a reasonable margin (or otherwise known as the developer margin). Developer has to either possess the ability to procure raw materials at a cheaper price or have the ability to

Following a strong performance in the Singapore stock market to date, investors are finding it difficult to look for decent-priced stocks to add to the portfolio. Here, we highlight six of UOBKH’s latest stock pick recommendations for the month of May that are touted to have room for its share price to run. Investors Takeaway: 5 Stocks To Own In The Best Performing Market In Asia CSE Global CSE Global is one of the few qualified system integrators in the region for oil and gas and communication infrastructure industries. With 32 years of track record in a business with high entry barriers, CSE Global has a good competitive advantage over its peers and any potential new entrants. With oil prices on a strong recovery trajectory, UOBKH highlights CSE Global as a good proxy for the recove