As the earnings season conclude, REITs and Property Trusts listed in Singapore have announced financial results or published business updates for the period ending 31 Dec 2022.

Of the 30 S-REITs which have declared full year 2022 distributions, median change in distribution per unit (DPU) increased marginally by 0.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). By sub-segments, the Hospitality segment saw the highest median increase of 31.6 per cent while Healthcare and Diversified segments were resilient at 1.6 per cent, 1.5 per cent respectively.

The five trusts with the highest y-o-y DPU increments for FY22 are: ARA US Hospitality Trust (760 per cent), Paragon REIT (34 per cent), CDL Hospitality Trusts (32 per cent), CapitaLand Ascott Trust (31 per cent) and Far East Hospitality Trust (24 per cent).

ARA US Hospitality Trust (ARA H-Trust) declared a Distribution per Staped Security (DPS) of 3.054 US cents for FY22, up 760 per cent from FY21’s 0.355 US cents. This came on the back of stronger operating performing as the US lodging market continued to recover. ARA H-Trust achieved higher revenue of US$169.0 million and Net Property Income (NPI) of US$41.4 million in FY22, up 29.3 per cent and 66.4 per cent y-o-y respectively. This contributed to the 767.6 per cent y-o-y growth in FY22 distributable income.

Paragon REIT announced a change in its financial year-end from 31 Aug 2022 to 31 Dec 2022. It’s latest FY22 reporting period was therefore a 16-month period from 1 Sep 2021 to 31 Dec 2022 and comparison of y-o-y DPU change was based on the current 16-month period in FY22 to a 12-month period in FY21. Its FY22 DPU was up 34.1 per cent to 7.24 Singapore cents from 5.40 Singapore cents in FY21. DPU for the 4-month period ended 31 Dec 2022 was 1.72 Singapore cents, unchanged from the same period a year ago.

CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) declared a DPS of 5.63 Singapore cents for FY22, up 31.9 per cent y-o-y. Accelerated global travel recovery saw most of CDLHT’s portfolio markets experience robust performance growth in FY22. Driven by higher revenue achievement, its FY22 NPI increased by 43.7 per cent to S$123.7 million. The higher NPI was largely attributed to the Singapore portfolio and UK Hotels. In FY22, Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) for its Singapore portfolio increased 104 per cent to S$166 from S$82 in FY21.

CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) announced a FY22 DPS of 5.67 Singapore cents, up 31 per cent y-o-y. The trust saw strong operating performance as international travel recovers, lifting FY22 Revenue Per Available Unit (RevPAU) to $120, up 74 per cent y-o-y. As a result, FY22 revenue and gross profit increased 58 per cent and 63 per cent respectively. The trust noted that to further enhance income stability, CLAS invested S$420 million in 15 accretive acquisitions in FY22, predominantly in the longer-stay segment.

Far East Hospitality Trust (Far East H-Trust) declared a FY22 DPS of 3.27 Singapore cents, up 24.3 per cent y-o-y. NPI for FY22 increased by 2.9 per cent while total distributions increased by 25 per cent to S$65 million on the back of higher NPI, lower finance expenses, and sharing of gains from the Central Square divestment. The trust noted that with the recovery of the hospitality sector, its hotels and serviced residences benefited from the increased flow of business and tourist traffic into Singapore. RevPAR for its hotel portfolio grew 64.3 per cent in FY22 to S$92 while RevPAU for its serviced apartment portfolio increased 39.3 per cent to S$195 in FY22.

REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version

• While Technology has ranked as both the strongest performing sector globally and regionally over the past 21 weeks, the 10 most traded Singapore-listed Technology stocks have averaged a 6% YTD decline in total return on S$63 million of net institutional outflow, with the majority of the 10 stocks priced at a discount to their 5-year P/B.
   
• Last week, UMS and AEM averaged 8.5% symmetrical returns on combined net institutional flow of S$10 million. This coincided with Nvidia and TSMC gaining 25% and 7% respectively. While Nvidia reported 19% QoQ revenue growth on 24 May, its projection for accelerated computing and generative AI took much of the spotlight. The following session saw SGX FTSE Taiwan Index Futures attain a 14-month trading volume record.
   
• AEM also recently maintained that looking beyond 2023, the future of the semiconductor industry has never been more promising stating that “recent excitement over Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, is fueling the demand for AI-focused semiconductor devices to enable these solutions to be delivered to the masses at economically feasible rates”.
   
• UMS also recently relayed the Semiconductor Industry Association’s evaluation that despite the current short-term cyclical downturn, the long-term outlook for the semiconductor market remains strong due to the ever-increasing role of chips in powering the critical technologies of today and tomorrow.

Semiconductor Megatrends

The Technology Sector comprises 22% of the FTSE All-World Index and 55% of the FTSE Taiwan RIC Capped Index, and has been a key driver of the Indices respective YTD SGD price gains of 9% and 17%.  During this time, the Semiconductor Industry has contended with an inventory correction that began in 2H22, while persistent inflation and decelerating growth have reduced consumer electronics demand.

Recently, semiconductor companies have been increasingly contrasting the 2023 overcapacity and chip glut with the potential demand for semiconductors and semiconductor services spurred by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications in 2024 and 2025. Deloitte maintain that Generative AI has “diverse applications across all industries, ranging from market research and note-taking, to enhancing customer support interactions” and that “specific use cases have been identified in various sectors, such as personalised financial planning for wealth management, medical diagnosis in healthcare, creating immersive worlds and experiences in media and entertainment, and outfit curation for retailers”.

Gartner noted in April that the “memory industry is dealing with overcapacity and excess inventory, which will continue to put significant pressure on average selling prices in 2023” with “the memory market projected to total $92.3 billion, a decline of 35.5% in 2023, however, it is on pace to rebound in 2024 with a 70% increase”.

As of 28 April, Nvidia was the fourth largest weight of the FTSE All-World Index and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (“TSMC”) was the largest weight of the FTSE Taiwan RIC Capped Index.

• On 24 May, the founder and CEO of NVIDIA highlighted that “the computer industry is going through two simultaneous transitions, accelerated computing and generative AI adding that “a trillion dollars of installed global data center infrastructure will transition from general purpose to accelerated computing as companies race to apply generative AI into every product, service and business process”.
   
• TSMC highlighted in March that current industry megatrends include 5G, AI proliferation, and the accelerating digital transformation. The recent AI spotlight has also seen the SGX FTSE Taiwan Index Futures open interest soar to a two-year record, while 25 May saw the Futures contract generate 14-month high in daily volume. On a side note, increased liquidity of the SGX FTSE Taiwan Index Futures has seen its top of the book trading size (highest bid/lowest offer) nearly doubled YoY in 2023, with the average bid-offer spread tightening further to 2.0 bps.

 

UMS & AEM Average 8.5% Gains on the Week

The 10 most traded stocks of Singapore’s Technology Sector are tabled below.

10 Most Traded Technology Stocks in 2023 YTD	Code	Mkt Cap S$M	YTD Avg T/O (S$M)	Week Net Insti Flow S$M	Week Px Chg %	MTD Px Chg %	YTD Net Insti Flow S$M	YTD Px Chg %	YTD TR %
Venture	V03	4,489.2	13.13	-0.3	0.3	-9.3	-65.5	-9.7	-6.9
UMS	558	716.3	7.01	4.3	8.6	3.9	-7.6	-9.3	-7.5
AEM SGD	AWX	1,086.5	5.73	5.6	8.4	3.3	21.5	2.0	3.2
Frencken	E28	360.2	4.72	-6.3	-10.1	-18.8	-6.1	-10.6	-7.4
Nanofilm	MZH	973.6	4.57	-1.2	-0.7	-2.0	6.6	5.8	6.5
IFAST	AIY	1,242.4	1.33	-0.4	-2.3	-8.9	-5.0	-27.9	-27.5
ISDN	I07	202.7	1.05	-0.3	-5.2	-2.1	3.9	5.7	5.7
Aztech Gbl	8AZ	529.2	0.51	-0.8	-0.7	-15.4	-7.5	-17.5	-15.9
TOTM Tech	42F	112.5	0.33	0.0	2.4	1.2	-2.6	-12.5	-12.5
CSE Global	544	207.0	0.20	-0.2	-1.5	-5.6	-0.2	-1.5	2.8
Total		9,919.6	38.6	0.4			-62.6
Average					-0.1	-5.4		-7.5	-6.0

 Source: SGX, Refinitiv (Data as of 26 May)

UMS Holdings and AEM Holdings generated comparatively symmetrical returns of 8.6% and 8.4% last week, with respective net institutional inflow of S$4.3 million and S$5.6 million.

• AEM Holdings highlighted on 11 May that looking beyond 2023, the future of the semiconductor industry has never been more promising stating that “recent excitement over Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, is fueling the demand for AI-focused semiconductor devices to enable these solutions to be delivered to the masses at economically feasible rates”. AEM Holdings also noted that its inventory levels are reducing, and inventory corrections are expected to conclude in late 2023, early 2024. The company reported 1QFY23 revenue of S$152.7 million, maintaining target guidance of S$500 million for FY23, following record FY22 revenue of S$870.5 million.
   
• UMS Holdings relayed predictions from Industry Association SEMI on 10 May that global fab equipment spending for front-end facilities is expected to decrease 22% YoY to US$76 billion in 2023 (from a record high of US$98 billion in 2022) before rising 21% YoY to US$92 billion in 2024. In addition, the company reiterated the Semiconductor Industry Association’s acknowledgement that despite the current short-term cyclical downturn, long-term outlook for the semiconductor market remains strong due to the ever-increasing role of chips in powering the critical technologies of today and tomorrow. The company reported Group revenue for 1QFY23 remained relatively stable, easing 5% YoY to S$80.8 million.

As noted in the table above, the 10 most traded stocks of the Singapore-listed Technology Sector maintain a combined market capitalisation of close to S$10 billion, while averaging close to S$40 million in average daily turnover. The 10 stocks have averaged a 6.0% decline in total return over the past 21 weeks on S$62.6 million of net institutional outflow. Meanwhile, the Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF has been the most traded Exchange Traded Fund in Singapore so far this year.

The longer term 5-year total returns and average valuations of the 10 most traded stocks of the Singapore-listed Technology Sector are tabled below.

10 Most Traded Technology Stocks in 2023 YTD	Code	5-yr TR %	P/E (x)	P/E 5-yr Avg (x)	P/B (x)	P/B 5-yr Avg (x)	Beta
Venture	V03	-8	12.1	14.6	1.6	2.0	0.76
UMS	558	80	7.3	12.6	2.1	2.2	1.46
AEM SGD	AWX	175	8.6	11.2	2.2	4.1	1.30
Frencken	E28	77	7.0	10.3	0.9	1.4	1.47
Nanofilm	MZH	-49	22.2	36.7	2.3	7.0	0.67
IFAST	AIY	346	354.4	64.3	5.4	8.0	0.74
ISDN	I07	123	8.3	12.2	1.0	1.0	1.04
Aztech Gbl	8AZ	-40	7.9	11.5	1.9	7.4	1.28
TOTM Tech	42F	-12	0.0	0.5	1.2	4.3	0.20
CSE Global	544	-7	36.7	13.4	1.0	1.3	1.01

Note Total Returns for companies listed within the 5 year period, are taken from debut date.  

Source: SGX, Refinitiv (Data as of 26 May).

Ongoing Growth & Geoeconomic Fragmentation Risks

With Singapore’s 1Q23 GDP report last week, the MTI cautioned the electronics downcycle is likely to be deeper and more prolonged than earlier projected. The downturn in the electronics cycle has seen Singapore NODX, Taiwan and South Korea exports print YoY contractions since October 2022.

The IMF also noted in its first staff discussion note for 2023 that rising geopolitical tensions have led to more protectionism and increasing use of cross-border restrictions on the national security grounds. For instance the US National Strategy (October 2022) which setting a goal to “maintain as large a lead as possible” in selected technologies such as computing, biotech, and clean tech with China-related measures announced on October 7, 2022, seeking to restrict China’s access to these technologies, with a focus on technologies that could be used in the military sector. The IMF maintain that this has seen companies increasingly focus on the resilience of their supply chains, with production location decisions by firms may be guided by government policies rather than efficiency considerations.

Gartner have noted that COVID-19 and the US and China trade tensions have precipitated the deglobalisation trend and the rise of techno nationalism noting that “semiconductors today are seen as a national security issue” and that “governments around the world are scrambling to build self-sufficiency in the semiconductor and electronics supply chain, which is leading the incentivization of onshoring initiatives across the world”.

For the trading sessions that spanned May 19 to 25, the Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.8 per cent while the Hang Seng Index fell 4.6 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 3.2 per cent.

Institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks over the five sessions with S$4 million of net inflow following the preceding five sessions which recorded S$270 million of net outflow.

DBS, UOB, Singapore Airlines, Jardine Matheson Holdings, and ST Engineering led the net institutional inflow for the five sessions.

Meanwhile, Thai Beverage, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings), City Developments, OCBC and Seatrium led the institutional outflow over the five sessions.

Share buybacks

There were 18 companies conducting share buybacks over the five trading sessions through to May 25, with a total consideration of S$22.1 million, following the S$40.6 million filed for the preceding five sessions.

UOB led the five-session consideration tally, buying back 360,000 shares acquired at an average price of S$27.92 per share.

Between May 8 and 25, UOB has bought back 1,008,000 shares, representing 0.06 per cent of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares).

UOB noted in March that its buyback mandate provides it the flexibility to undertake the purchase or acquisition of its issued shares as and when appropriate to help achieve three objectives.

Firstly, the buybacks provide a means to assist the management of the capital structure of the company, with a view to achieving an efficient capital mix.

Secondly, the mandate enables UOB to manage surplus capital, such that the surplus capital and funds which are more than the company’s requirements may be returned to shareholders in an expedient and cost-efficient manner.

Thirdly, the buybacks also provide a means to improve return on equity, which is also one of the key objectives of the company.

UOB also operates share-based compensation plans.

The bank added that the purchase mandate would be exercised by the directors only in circumstances that are in the best interests of the company and no purchase or acquisition of shares would be made in circumstances which would or are likely to have a material adverse effect on the financial position of the company and its subsidiaries.

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

The five trading sessions saw close to 80 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for fewer than 30 primary-listed stocks.

This included seven company director acquisitions with two disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed seven acquisitions and four disposals.

PropNex

Between May 19 and 22, PropNex executive director Kelvin Fong Keng Seong acquired 748,200 shares at an average price of S$1.02 per share. This increased his direct and deemed interest in Singapore’s largest listed real estate group from 8.75 per cent to 8.85 per cent.

His preceding acquisitions were in July 2022, with 72,100 shares acquired at S$1.52 per share.

Fong oversees the group’s training development curriculum and also administers the development of IT strategies and technology innovations to improve the group’s competitive edge in the industry.

Prior to joining the management team, Fong was one of the top team leaders and his team of salespersons has a strong track record for outstanding sales performance and excellent customer service.

Fong also spearheads the sales and leadership training programmes.

In a presentation on Apr 6, Fong noted that with its regional reach, PropNex maintained a salesforce of close to 15,000 salespersons.

In 2022, PropNex launched its fifth overseas brand presence in Australia. PropNex’s real estate brokerage services are operated by its wholly owned flagship subsidiary PropNex Realty Pte Ltd. PropNex Realty derives commission-based fees through the provision of property brokerage.

In Singapore, the group maintains a substantial market share in the residential segments of new project launches, private resale, HDB resale and rental including commercial and industrial properties.

On the recent round of cooling measures directed at the Singapore property market, PropNex maintained that the government is moving early to rein in any exuberance that may be building up in the residential property market, seeing that overall private home prices rose by 3.3 per cent in Q1 2023 compared to Q4 2022, as shown by the URA property price index flash estimates.

LY Corporation

On May 22, LY Corporation founder and executive director Tan Kwee Chai acquired 490,000 shares of the Catalist-listed company via an off-market transaction. At an average price of 6.0 cents per share, the consideration of the acquisition was S$29,400.

This took his total interest in the manufacturer and exporter of wooden bedroom furniture from 73.17 per cent to 73.27 per cent.

His preceding acquisition was on Nov 29, with 200,000 shares acquired at 7.8 cents per share.

Tan, who started furniture making in 1976, has been a director of LY Furniture since its incorporation and has been instrumental in the group’s growth, leading to the expansion of its business and operations.

Tan is responsible for the group’s overall management and operations, including formulating the group’s strategic directions and expansion plans.

In FY22 (ended Dec 31), the group reported a net profit of RM12.4 million (S$3.6 million), a significant improvement from the RM7.2 million loss in the previous year.

This performance was primarily driven by a 23.9 per cent increase in revenue to RM234.5 million, due to changes in the product mix and a stronger US dollar to ringgit exchange rate.

The group operates from 25 factories and warehouses, occupying a combined built-up area of approximately 1.9 million square feet.

Its products are sold mainly to overseas dealers such as furniture wholesalers and retailers who generally resell the products to end-users through their respective retail networks and domestic customers who are primarily third-party agents who typically export and resell its products outside Malaysia, such as to the United States.

Enviro-Hub Holdings

On May 22, Enviro-Hub Holdings executive chairman Raymond Ng acquired 550,600 shares of the company at S$0.032 cents per share. This took his total interest in the environmental management solutions group from 28.42 per cent to 28.46 per cent.

Ng is responsible for the group’s overall management, business development, investment decisions as well as strategic direction and planning.

He has accumulated over 35 years of experience in the recycling and e-waste management & recovery business.

He is also a property developer with more than 20 years of industry experience.

Enviro-Hub Holdings maintains a diverse portfolio that includes trading, recycling, and refining of e-waste/metals, piling contracts, construction, rental and servicing of machinery, property investments and management, and the manufacturing and trading of health-care products.

For its FY22 (ended Dec 31), the group’s revenue grew 9 per cent from FY21, reaching S$44.1 million. This was primarily due to growth in its e-waste recycling business and contributions from the health-care segment following the completion of the acquisition of Pastel Glove in October 2021.

Inside Insights is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.

 

Among the constituents of the Straits Times Index, three S-Reits are members of the Mapletree family – Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, and Mapletree Industrial Trust – and they make up a third of S-Reits’ representation in the index.

Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT) invests primarily in commercial assets for office and retail purposes across five key Asian markets, with total assets under management (AUM) of S$16.6 billion.

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) invests in logistics assets across nine countries worldwide, with total AUM of S$12.8 billion.

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) owns industrial and data centre assets both in Singapore and North America, with total AUM of S$8.8 billion.

All three S-Reits have reported full-year results for FY22/23 ended Mar 31, 2023 and saw stronger gross revenue and net property income (NPI) performance for the year.

MPACT reported the strongest growth in gross revenue and NPI among the three, with full year FY22/23 gross revenue and NPI rising 65.4 per cent and 62.6 per cent year on year (yoy) respectively.

According to MPACT, the growth was mainly driven by contribution from properties acquired through the merger of Mapletree Commercial Trust and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust, as well as higher earnings from core assets, VivoCity and Mapletree Business City, which cushioned the increase in utility and finance costs.

This led to higher distribution per unit (DPU) of 9.61 Singapore cents for the year, up 6.1 per cent yoy (excluding the release of retained cash in FY21/22).

MPACT also reported stronger operational metrics, with portfolio committed occupancy at 95.4 per cent and positive rental reversion of 0.7 per cent. In particular, VivoCity’s full year tenant sales improved 30.6 per cent yoy, exceeding S$1 billion, which set a new record and surpassed pre-Covid levels.

MLT’s FY22/23 gross revenue and NPI grew 7.7 per cent and 7.2 per cent yoy to S$731 million and S$635 million respectively. As a result, amount distributable to unitholders grew 10.8 per cent yoy to S$432.9 million, while DPU rose 2.5 per cent to 9.011 cents on an enlarged unit base. In March this year, MLT announced the acquisition of eight modern logistics assets in Japan, Australia and South Korea for S$904.4 million as well as the potential acquisition of two modern logistics assets in China for S$209.6 million.

MIT reported a double-digit gross revenue growth for FY22/23, up 12.3 per cent yoy. This led to stronger FY22/23 NPI of S$518 million, an increase of 9.7 per cent yoy.

It was mainly driven by the contribution from the acquisition of 29 data centres in the US but partially offset by higher borrowing costs.

However, DPU for the year fell by 1.7 per cent to 13.57 cents due to an enlarged unit base.

MIT recently also completed a private placement, raising over S$200 million to partially fund its latest acquisition of a newly built data centre in Osaka, Japan, which came at a purchase consideration of 52.0 billion yen (approximately S$507.9 million).

The private placement was approximately 4.5 times covered at S$2.212 per new unit. This marks MIT’s first foray into the Japanese data centre market, further diversifying its portfolio.

Post-acquisition, Japan will account for about 5.5 per cent of MIT’s portfolio by AUM, with North America and Singapore representing the remaining 47.6 per cent and 46.9 per cent respectively.

REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version

• Singapore’s visitor arrivals surpassed 1.1 million in April 2023, the highest in a month since the pandemic, bringing the total number of visitor arrivals to over 4 million in the year-to-date (YTD).
   
• The 10 most traded stocks that represent the travel and hospitality industries have returned an average 1.3% gain in the YTD ending 18 May, outperforming STI’s 0.3%. The 10 stocks booked net institutional inflows of S$186.7 million, while the broader Singapore stock market recorded over S$2.3 billion of net institutional outflows.
   
• Together, the 10 stocks have contributed 9% of the day-to-day turnover of all stocks listed on SGX in the YTD. The 10 stocks span across three sectors – Industrials, Consumer Cyclicals and REITs – with Singapore Airlines (SIA), Genting Singapore (Genting) and CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) being the most traded stock in each sector. The 3 stocks generated a total return of 10.1%, 7.7% and 3.0% respectively in the YTD.
   

 

Rebound in tourist arrivals

The World Economic Forum noted that global tourism rebounded strongly in 2022, with international tourist arrivals more than doubled when compared to the previous two years. As international travel continues to pick up, Singapore’s tourism sector has seen similar growth momentum. Data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed that Singapore’s visitor arrivals in April 2023 surpassed 1.1 million, the highest in a month since the pandemic, bringing the total number of visitor arrivals in 2023 to over 4 million as of 30 April. This result coincided with gains being seen in hospitality S-REITs, which were among April’s top S-REITs performers, as elaborated here.

With China’s reopening and the increase in international flight capacities, STB estimated that international visitor arrivals to Singapore would be in the range of 12 to 14 million in 2023, with full tourism recovery expected by 2024. Tourism receipts are anticipated to net $18 billion to $21 billion accordingly.

This forecast coincided with the latest air traffic statistics provided by Changi Airport Group (CAG), which reported that the airport handled over 4.6 million passenger movements in April, or around 82% of pre-pandemic levels; while aircraft movements totalled 26,300, which was around 83% of April 2019 levels. CAG is set to reopen the northern wing of Terminal 2 in October this year, bringing the total passenger capacity to 90 million passengers per annum, higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 85 million passengers per annum.

 

Recovery momentum in travel & hospitality industries

Singapore’s 10 most traded stocks that represent the travel and hospitality industries have returned an average 1.3% gain over the first 20 weeks of 2023 ending 18 May, outperforming the STI’s YTD total return of 0.3%. The 10 stocks booked a combined net institutional inflow of S$186.7 million in the YTD, which was in contrast to the broader Singapore stock market, which booked over S$2.3 billion of net institutional outflow. Amongst the 10 stocks, Genting Singapore and Singapore Airlines led the net institutional inflow YTD.

Together, the 10 stocks have contributed 9% of the day-to-day turnover of all stocks listed on SGX over the past 20 weeks of 2023. The 10 stocks span across three sectors – Industrials, Consumer Cyclicals and REITs – with Singapore Airlines (SIA), Genting Singapore (Genting) and CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) being the most traded stock in each sector. The 3 stocks generated a total return of 10.1%, 7.7% and 3.0% respectively in the YTD ending 18 May.

Name	Stock Code	YTD Avg Daily T/O (S$M)	Mkt Cap (S$M)	Net Insti Flow YTD (S$M)	2023 YTD Total Return %	Sector
Genting Singapore	G13	33.3	12,193	174.2	7.7	Consumer Cyclicals
SIA	C6L	23.8	18,091	80.6	10.1	Industrials
CapitaLand Ascott Trust	HMN	6.9	3,671	5.1	3.0	REITs

Source: SGX, Bloomberg (data as of 18 May 2023)

 

Singapore Airlines

• In its latest FY2022/23 result, SIA posted a 133.4% year-on-year (YoY) growth in revenue to $17.8 billion while its net profit grew $3.12 billion to reach $2.16 billion, the highest in 76 years, as compared to its $962 million net loss in FY2021/22. Group passenger load factor reached a record high of 85% in FY2022/23 as compared to 30% in FY2021/22, attributing the positive results to strong demand for air travel after Singapore fully reopened its borders in April 2022. Both its carriers, SIA and Scoot, were among the first to launch flights and capture the pent-up demand upon the reopening of borders.
   
• Prior to COVID-19, SIA commanded a 1.3% weight in the FTSE ST ALL-Share Index. Following on from a significant fund raising in 2020, the company maintained a 2.2% weight in the FTSE ST ALL-Share Index as of 18 May 2023. Similarly, the stock is now the second largest by weight in the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Airlines Index, moving up 4 spots from end 2019.
   
• While the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 devastated the airlines industry, back in mid-2020, SIA signalled its resolve that the next chapter of its transformation journey would focus on how it strengthens its position as a global aviation leader in the new world. So far this year, SIA is ranked fourth highest in net institutional inflow stock, after ranking as the tenth highest net institutional fund inflow stock in 2022.
   
• Riding on the recovery momentum, SIA noted that “demand for air travel remains robust in the first quarter of FY2023/24, underpinned by the recovery in air travel in East Asia.” However, it also highlighted that “near term cargo demand is expected to remain soft as the industry navigates headwinds from the macroeconomic environment which include inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions and high fuel cost”.

 

Genting Singapore

• In the YTD ending 18 May 2023, Genting booked the highest net institutional inflows across the Singapore stock market. In 1Q2023, the group’s revenue grew 54% YoY to $484.5 million and EBITDA grew 56% YoY to $189.7 million. Genting highlighted the growth was due to the ongoing recovery of regional travel and gaming demand.
   
• Going ahead, Genting will continue with its RWS 2.0 strategy, a $4.5 billion expansion project over different phases, and continue enhancing its brand identity as a premium luxury destination that appeals to trendy and affluent customers.
   
• The Group noted that ongoing construction works for RWS 2.0 strategy including Minion Land at the Universal Studios Singapore and the Singapore Oceanarium are progressing well with soft opening scheduled for early 2025. It has also been successful in securing premium lifestyle events that appeal to affluent visitors, having become the official venue to host signature events such as the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and Wine Pinnacle Awards 2023.
   

CapitaLand Ascott Trust

• In its 1Q23 business update, CLAS reported an increase in gross profit by 59% YoY. This was due to stronger operating performance and contributions from new properties. The trust also saw an increase in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAU) by 90% YoY, with key markets – Australia, Japan, Singapore and USA – performing at pre-Covid levels or above. Notably, CLAS’ Japan RevPAU jumped 351% YoY to 105% of same-store pre-Covid levels, following the country’s reopening to independent leisure travellers in October 2022.
   

10 Most Traded Tourism & Hospitality Related Stocks

Sorted by highest average traded turnover in the 2023 YTD ending 18 May.

Stock	Stock Code	YTD Avg Daily T/O (S$M)	Mkt Cap (S$M)	Net Insti Flow YTD (S$M)	2023 YTD Total Return %	Sector
Genting Singapore	G13	33.3	12,193	174.2	7.7	Consumer Cyclicals
SIA	C6L	23.8	18,091	80.6	10.1	Industrials
SATS	S58	15.1	3,971	-28.3	-0.6	Industrials
ComfortDelGro	C52	7.9	2,427	-42.0	-5.7	Industrials
CapitaLand Ascott Trust	HMN	6.9	3,671	5.1	3.0	REITs
CDL Hospitality Trusts	J85	2.0	1,467	0.0	-3.0	REITs
Far East Hospitality Trust	Q5T	0.8	1,198	-2.0	-0.6	REITs
SIA Engineering	S59	0.8	2,648	1.0	0.9	Industrials
Frasers Hospitality Trust	ACV	0.3	905	-1.2	8.4	REITs
Mandarin Oriental Intl	M04	0.3	3,001	-0.6	-7.7	Consumer Cyclicals
Total		91.2		186.7
Average					1.3

Source: SGX, Bloomberg (data as of 18 May 2023)

• The Industrial Sector has ranked among the five strongest performing global Sectors in the YTD, with gains extending to the Asia Pacific. Total returns of Singapore’s 20 most traded Industrial Stocks for the 20 weeks have seen three gainers for every one decliner, with asymmetrical returns producing average & median total returns of 16% & 3%.
   
• Last week, these 20 stocks were led by Marco Polo Marine, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Singapore Airlines, with the trio averaging 11% price gains on combined net institutional inflow of S$16 million. Last week the 20 stocks booked S$34 million of net institutional inflow, reducing their combined YTD net institutional outflow to S$55 million.
   
• On 11 May, Marco Polo Marine reported 102% YoY revenue growth for its 1HFY23 (ended 31 Mar), while on 16 May,  Singapore Airlines reported FY22/23 (ended 31 Mar) revenue growth of 133%. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s share price gain from S$1.18 to S$1.27, coincided with the USD/CNY returning to Dec 2022 levels, above the 7.00 threshold.
   
• Singapore’s five actively traded industrial stocks that have booked the highest net institutional inflows so far this year proportionate to the current market cap include Beng Kuang, Dyna-Mac, Acesian Partners, Seatrium and Marco Polo Marine. The five stocks are trading at a premium to their book value, with mixed moves in the YTD, ranging from a 69% total return for Dyna-Mac to an 8% decline for Seatrium. 
   

Across all sectors of the Singapore stock market, the past 20 weeks have seen the Industrials Sector book the highest increase in daily trading turnover (in absolute SGD terms) as compared to 2022. 

Seatrium has been a key driver of the increase in the Sector-level increase in trading activity, following the completion of the combination of Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine in February. The combined entity was formed to create a premier global player with its deep engineering heritage, to offer products, services and solutions to meet today and tomorrow’s energy needs. According to the 1QFY23 business update, renewables and cleaner/green solutions currently comprise approximately 39% of the Seatrium group’s net order book. Seatrium has ranked among the five most traded Singapore stocks this year, with S$41.1 million of average daily turnover, compared to S$14.6 million in 2022, while Keppel Corporation has averaged S$29.6 million of average daily turnover compared to S$26.3 million in 2022.

Singapore’s 20 most traded Industrial stocks have booked net institutional fund outflows of S$54.5 million over the past 20 weeks, however last week saw S$33.6 million of net institutional fund inflows. Seatrium led the net institutional inflows of the 20 industrials last week, in addition to Keppel Corporation, YZJ Shipbuilding (Holdings) (“YZJSH”), ST Engineering and Singapore Airlines (“SIA”). Both YZJSH and SIA were also among the three strongest performing stocks last week along with Marco Polo Marine. Meanwhile, among the 20 stocks, Jubilee Industries Holdings, Singapore Post and ComfortDelGro Corporation led the decliners last week.

Five stocks with the highest price gains last week within the 20 most actively Traded Industrials Stocks	Code	YTD Avg Daily T/O (S$)	Mkt Cap S$M	Last Week Net Insti Flow S$M	Last Week Price Gain %	YTD Net Insti Flow S$M	Total Return YTD%	P/B (x)	5 year Avg P/B (x)
MarcoPolo Marine	5LY	0.7	191	1.2	19	1.5	24	1.3	0.8
YZJ Shipbldg SGD	BS6	34.9	5,017	8.3	8	-54.1	-3	1.5	0.6
SIA	C6L	24.5	18,596	7.0	6	89.4	13	0.9	0.8
Dyna-Mac	NO4	1.9	326	1.3	5	7.9	69	7.5	2.9
SIA Engineering	S59	0.8	2,715	1.3	4	1.4	3	1.6	1.7

Source: SGX, Refinitiv, Bloomberg (Data as of 19 May 2023).

On 11 May, Marco Polo Marine reported 102% YoY revenue growth for its 1HFY23 (ended 31 Mar), while on 16 May, SIA reported FY22/23 (ended 31 Mar) revenue growth of 133%. SIA also highlighted its average PAX load factor reached 85% compared to 30% in FY21/22. YZJSH’s share price gain from S$1.18 to S$1.27, coincided with the USD/CNY returning to Dec 2022 levels, above the 7.00 threshold. The Group noted in it its FY22 Annual Report has hedged over 40% of its currency exposure to USD using forward contracts to mitigate risks as most of its contract wins are denominated in USD.

Globally, the Industrial Sector has been among the four strongest performing sectors for the first 20 weeks of 2023. Much of these gains have extended to the Asia Pacific, with the Industrial Sector seeing less fragmentation and bifurcation than the Technology Sector. The 20 most traded stocks of Singapore’s Industrial Sector maintain a combined market S$90 billion, while averaging combined daily trading turnover of just over S$200 million. This means the 20 stocks have comprised 19% of the daily trading turnover in Singapore so far this year, while maintaining around 11% of the combined market capitalisation or market value of the Singapore stock market. The recent performances and net institutional flows of Singapore’s 20 most traded Industrial stocks over the past 20 weeks are tabled below. 

Most Traded Industrial Stock	Code	YTD Avg Daily T/O (S$)	Mkt Cap S$M	Last Week Net Insti Flow S$M	Last Week Price Gain %	YTD Net Insti Flow S$M	Total Return YTD%	P/B (x)	5 year Avg P/B (x)
Seatrium	S51	41.1	8,666	10.3	2	79.0	-8	1.1	0.9
YZJ Shipbldg SGD	BS6	34.9	5,017	8.3	8	-54.1	-3	1.5	0.6
Keppel Corp	BN4	29.6	11,419	9.7	1	-155.5	41	1.0	0.6
SIA	C6L	24.5	18,596	7.0	6	89.4	13	0.9	0.8
JMH USD	J36	17.6	19,565	-1.6	-2	-9.8	2	0.5	0.7
ST Engineering	S63	16.0	11,755	7.9	3	55.0	14	4.9	5.2
SATS	S58	15.1	4,016	-2.4	2	-27.5	1	2.0	2.9
ComfortDelGro	C52	7.9	2,449	-5.9	-4	-42.8	-5	1.0	1.4
SamuderaShipping	S56	5.6	485	-0.9	0	-7.5	37	0.6	0.4
Dyna-Mac	NO4	1.9	326	1.3	5	7.9	69	7.5	2.9
HPH Trust USD	NS8U	1.4	2,179	-0.4	-3	-0.5	1	0.5	0.5
SingPost	S08	1.0	1,080	-1.9	-6	5.8	-8	0.8	1.1
SIA Engineering	S59	0.8	2,715	1.3	4	1.4	3	1.6	1.7
China Aviation	G92	0.8	770	-0.3	0	3.8	2	0.6	0.8
MarcoPolo Marine	5LY	0.7	191	1.2	19	1.5	24	1.3	0.8
Acesian Partners	5FW	0.6	27	0.0	0	0.4	36	1.8	1.2
COSCO SHP SG	F83	0.6	374	0.0	-1	-1.9	-7	0.8	1.1
Jubilee	NHD	0.4	18	0.0	-14	-0.1	54	0.6	0.5
Beng Kuang	BEZ	0.4	17	0.1	0	1.1	58	2.8	0.3
CFM	5EB	0.2	21	0.0	2	0.0	2	1.0	1.2
Total		201	89,687	33.6		-54.5
Average					1.2		16.4
Median					0.6		2.9

Source: SGX, Refinitiv, Bloomberg (Data as of 19 May 2023). Note table excludes stocks which have announced privatisation offers.   

Singapore’s five actively traded industrial stocks that have booked the highest net institutional inflows so far this year proportionate to the current market capitalisation includes Beng Kuang Marine, Dyna-Mac Holdings, Acesian Partners, Seatrium and Marco Polo Marine. The five stocks are trading at a premium to their book value, with mixed moves in the 2023 year to 19 May, ranging from a 69% total return for Dyna-Mac to an 8% decline for Seatrium. On 12 April, Beng Kuang Marine announced that the Group had entered into a conditional land sale and purchase agreement to sell a part of its Batam waterfront shipyard property for S$8.64 million to a subsidiary. Prior the announcement, Beng Kuang Marine was trading at S$0.04. On 16 May, Beng Kuang Marine reported 1QFY23 (ended 31 March) gross profit increased 26.4% from 1QFY22 to S$3.18 million, with improvement in cost management and productivity initiatives, and in total the Group had an order book of S$24 million as at 31 March.  On 11 May, Dyna-Mac Holdings reported it had won New Orders of S$270 million, bringing Net Order Book to S$608.1 million after reporting 1QFY23 (ended 31 March) revenue increased by S$19.8 million from $67.5 million in 1QFY22 to $87.3 million for 1QFY23. The increase was mainly due to higher progressive recognition achieved for the projects carried out in 1QFY23. Meanwhile, on 27 April, Catalist-listed Acesian Partners received approval from its shareholders for the diversification of the existing business of the Group to include the proposed investment business.