INSTITUTIONS were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions through to Oct 19, with S$158 million of net institutional outflow, as 21 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$11.7 million.

CapitaLand Investment led the share buyback consideration tally, buying back 1,605,600 shares at an average price of S$3.02 per share, followed by Venture Corporation which bought back 275,000 shares at an average price of S$11.97 per share. Yangzijiang Financial Holding also bought back 5,496,400 shares at an average price of S$0.35 per share.

Leading the net institutional outflow over the five sessions were UOB, Keppel Corporation, DBS, CapitaLand Ascendas Reit, Keppel DC Reit, Singapore Airlines, Seatrium, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Mapletree Logistics Trust, and Jardine Matheson Holdings.

Meanwhile, OCBC, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Cortina Holdings, ComfortDelGro Corporation, UMS Holdings, Thai Beverage, Singapore Exchange, Singapore Technologies Engineering, and Mapletree Industrial Trust led the net institutional inflow during the period.

The five trading sessions saw fewer than 50 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 20 primary-listed stocks. They included 10 company director acquisitions with three disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed seven acquisitions and four disposals.

Cortina Holdings

On Oct 13, Lim Keen Ban Holdings acquired 1.6 million shares of Cortina Holdings at S$3.80 per share. With a consideration of S$6,080,000, this increased the direct interest of the substantial shareholding company in Cortina Holdings from 31.80 per cent to 32.77 per cent.

Executive chairman Anthony Lim Keen Ban, group chief executive officer and executive director Lim Jit Ming, group chief operating officer and executive director Lim Jit Yaw are deemed interested in the shares held by Lim Keen Ban Holdings through LKB Private Trust Company.

The acquisition saw Cortina Holdings rank among the 10 stocks that booked the highest net institutional inflow for the five sessions as discussed above.

The group operates over 40 boutiques in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

Wing Tai Holdings

Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung has continued to build his deemed interest in the company, through his spouse Helen Chow’s acquisition of shares.

From Oct 13 through to Oct 19, Cheng has increased his deemed interest in the leading real estate developer and lifestyle retailer by 1.1 million shares. He maintains a 61.17 per cent total interest in the company. Since Sep 8, Chow has acquired 2.85 million shares.

Geo Energy Resources

On Oct 19, Geo Energy Resources independent director Lu King Seng acquired 100,000 shares at S$0.305 per share. This increased his direct interest in the upstream coal miner from 0.06 per cent to 0.07 per cent.

Lu was appointed to the board in September 2012. He has more than 26 years of commercial and audit experience in London, Singapore, and Malaysia with Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen, PriceWaterhouse and KPMG. He is currently the director of Orion Advisory and an independent director of other companies listed on the SGX-ST and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Group chief operating officer Philip Hendry and group chief financial officer Adam Tan Sheng Hua also acquired shares on Oct 19. Hendry bought 580,000 shares and Tan purchased 80,000 shares, with both transactions conducted at S$0.30 per share.

Hendry rejoined the group as chief operating officer in February 2023 and oversees the commercial and business operations. He was previously the chief financial officer of the group until he left in January 2020.

Tan oversees the group’s finance and investment activities, including financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and investor relations. The group is expanding its Indonesian operations and global business.

On Oct 18, Geo Energy announced it had successfully completed the acquisition of a 58.65 per cent stake in PT Golden Eagle Energy, an Indonesian coal mining group listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, and a 33 per cent stake in PT Marga Bara Jaya with ready-for-development infrastructure.

Geo Energy Resources executive chairman and CEO Charles Antonny Melati highlighted that the value-accretive acquisition marks a new phase of growth for the group, with the future of thermal coal expected to shift towards a calorific value of 4,000 GAR with low ash and low sulphur characteristics.

The group’s investment strategy is mainly focused on acquisition of new mining concessions to increase production quantity and at the same time, diversify its sources of coal.

Zico Holdings

On Oct 18, Zico Holdings CEO Ng Hock Heng acquired three million shares at S$0.06 per share. With a consideration of S$180,000, the married deal increased Ng’s direct interest in the Catalist-listed stock from 1.80 per cent to 2.59 per cent.

He was appointed to the board in December 2010, and held the role of executive director from 2014, and was later redesignated group CEO in May 2023, in line with the group’s succession planning.

He is primarily responsible of overseeing the overall business of the group, the management of the group’s advisory and transaction services segment, the management, support services and licensing services segment, as well as developing and managing new services.

On Jul 14, Zico Holdings completed the acquisition of the remaining equity interest in Zico Asset Management, which aligns with management’s strategic decision to place a stronger emphasis on the wealth management and trust industry which it sees as a window of opportunity for growth potential.

Zico is an integrated provider of multidisciplinary professional services focused on the Asean region, providing advisory and transactional services, management and support and licensing services.

Asian Pay Television Trust

On Oct 12, Lu Fang-Ming, non-executive director, and vice-chair of the trustee-manager of Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) acquired 369,300 units of the business trust for a consideration of S$35,453. At S$0.096 per unit, this increased his total interest in APTT from 1.10 per cent to 1.12 per cent.

Lu has been a corporate executive vice-president of Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group since the original design manufacturer company he co-founded was acquired by Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group in May 2000.

In 2014, Lu also took over as chairman of Asia Pacific Telecom Group, Taiwan’s fourth largest mobile carrier.

Back in August, the trustee-manager maintained that operationally it did not expect growth in basic cable TV revenue generating units (RGUs) due to Taiwan’s saturated cable TV market, while it expected the number of premium digital cable TV and broadband RGUs to continue increasing in 2023.

The trustee-manager maintained that the total revenue will, however, be influenced by the ability to maintain average revenue per user which will remain under pressure due to market dynamics. For instance, the decline in demand for home shopping and competition from Internet retailing is expected to continue impacting channel leasing revenue.

Plato Capital

Between Oct 11 and 13, Plato Capital chairman, non-Independent and non-executive director Lim Kian Onn acquired 30,600 shares at an average price of S$2.27 per share. With a consideration of S$69,438 this increased his deemed interest from in the Kuala-Lumpur- based investment group from 74.52 per cent to 74.77 per cent.

In August, the group noted that revenues and profitability at the 452-key Tune Hotel KLIA2 continued to improve in line with increased flight frequency at the adjoining KLIA2 and associated demand from key leisure and group segments. The group added that labour availability issues and persistent cost inflation continue to pose challenges to the operating and financial performance of the property.

At the same time, Epsom Malaysia continues to see sustained increases in student enrolment but faces challenges in maintaining margins in the light of the weakening Malaysian ringgit and rising expatriate teacher costs.

JB Foods

On Oct 16, JB Foods non-independent, non-executive director and vice-chairman Goi Seng Hui acquired 10,000 shares at S$0.48 per share. The acquisition increased his total interest in the company from 24.63 per cent to 24.64 per cent.

Back in August, JB Foods reported profit after tax growth of 15.5 per cent, from US$7.3 million in H1FY22 (ended Jun 30) to US$8.4 million in H1FY23.

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

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