Director acquisitions and share buybacks surge

[singapore] Over the five trading sessions from Apr 4 to 10, institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$445 million. This brings the net institutional outflow for the year to Apr 10 to S$1.99 billion.

Institutional flows

Over the five trading sessions, the stocks that saw the highest net institutional outflow were DBS, UOB, OCBC, Keppel, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Logistics Trust, CapitaLand Investment, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Venture Corp and Mapletree Industrial Trust.

Meanwhile Singtel, Yangzijiang Financial, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Singapore Airlines, CapitaLand Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), Wilmar International, Singapore Exchange, Hongkong Land Holdings, Genting Singapore and Sembcorp Industries led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions.

From a sector perspective, financial services and industrials experienced the highest net institutional outflow, while telecommunications and consumer non-cyclicals saw the most net institutional inflow. Notably, Singtel booked S$196 million of net institutional inflow over the five sessions.

Share buybacks

The five sessions saw 32 primary-listed companies conduct buybacks with a total consideration of S$205 million, a surge from the preceding weekly consideration tallies in the vicinity of S$60 million to S$70 million. DBS led the consideration tally, with three million shares bought back at an average price of S$39.73 a share.

ESR-Reit and Stoneweg European Reit also conducted buybacks over the five sessions.

Director transactions

The five trading sessions saw close to 80 director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 40 primary-listed stocks. Directors or chief executive officers filed 28 acquisitions and one disposal, while substantial shareholders filed 10 acquisitions and one disposal.

This included director or CEO acquisitions in Accrelist, Beng Kuang Marine, Centurion Corp, Chemical Industries (Far East), China Sunsine Chemical, Creative Technology, Enviro-Hub Holdings, Frencken Group, GuocoLand, Ho Bee Land, International Cement Group, LMS Compliance, OUE, PropNex, Sing Investments & Finance, Singapore Shipping Corp, Tai Sin Electric, UMS Integration, ValueMax Group and Wilmar International.

Wilmar International

On Apr 7, Wilmar International chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong grew his deemed interest in the global agribusiness by 598,900 shares at an average price of S$3.02 a share. This increased his total interest from 14.33 per cent to 14.34 per cent. Kuok has gradually increased his total interest in Wilmar from 12.94 per cent in October 2022. His preceding acquisition was on Feb 21, with 1,662,800 shares acquired at S$3.07 apiece.

On Apr 8, Wilmar non-executive and independent director George Yeo acquired 130,000 shares at an average price of S$3.04 a share. This increased his direct interest in the global agribusiness to 906,500 shares or 0.015 per cent. His preceding acquisition was on Feb 24, with 176,500 shares acquired at an average price of S$3.09 a share. Yeo was appointed to the Wilmar board in April 2024.

Frencken Group

Between Apr 4 and 7, Frencken Group non-executive non-independent chairman Gooi Soon Chai increased his total interest from 23.65 per cent to 23.73 per cent. This involved the acquisition of 300,000 shares at an average price of S$0.948 apiece, in addition to 40,000 shares acquired by Sinn Hin Company.

Gooi was appointed as director in February 2015 and as group chairman in August 2016. With 30 years in the global technology industry, he is currently senior vice-president of Keysight Technologies and president of Keysight’s order fulfilment and digital software solutions group.

Frencken president and executive director Dennis Au acquired 100,000 shares at S$0.985 apiece on Apr 4. Au was appointed president of the group in May 2015 and executive director in April 2016, and is responsible for strategic direction, global operations and performance. He also serves as CEO of the mechatronics division, overseeing business development in Europe, Asia and the US.

UMS Integration

On Apr 7, UMS Integration chairman and CEO Andy Luong acquired 199,800 shares at an average price of S$0.925 a share. This increased his deemed interest in the company from 15.34 per cent to 15.36 per cent. His preceding acquisitions on the open market were in September 2024, with 600,000 shares acquired at S$0.983 a share, and May 2024, with 123,600 shares purchased at S$1.07 apiece.

Centurion Corp

On Apr 7, Centurion Corp’s non-executive director and joint chairman Han Seng Juan increased his total interest in the company from 55.68 per cent to 55.71 per cent. He bought 250,000 shares for a consideration of S$260,000, which translates to an average price of S$1.04 a share.

His preceding acquisitions were in February, with 600,000 bought at S$0.977 a share, and in August 2020, with 1,525,000 shares purchased at S$0.352 apiece. Responsible for the formulation of corporate and business strategies, he has also been a principal and director of Centurion Global, a controlling shareholder of the company, since April 2008.

GuocoLand

Between Apr 4 and 7, GuocoLand chairman and non-independent non-executive director Quek Leng Chan increased his deemed interest via acquisitions by HLX. This saw 146,000 shares purchased at an average price of S$1.43 apiece. Quek maintains a 71.87 per cent deemed interest in the leading real estate group that offers comprehensive capabilities across the entire real estate value chain.

Ho Bee Land

Between Apr 4 and 7, Ng Noi Hinoy, spouse of Ho Bee Land executive chairman Chua Thian Poh, acquired 100,000 shares for S$178,000 at S$1.78 a share. This slightly increased Chua’s deemed interest in Ho Bee Land to 75.6 per cent. Previously, Ng acquired 12,100 shares at S$1.95 apiece on Oct 2, 2024; 22,200 shares at S$1.87 each on Sep 23; and 47,700 shares at S$1.85 a share between Sep 12 and 13.

Beng Kuang Marine

Between Apr 7 and 9, Beng Kuang Marine executive chairman Chua Beng Yong acquired 500,000 shares at an average price of S$0.18 a share. This took his total interest in the company from 4.38 per cent to 4.63 per cent. His preceding acquisition was in September 2022, with 2.4 million shares purchased at an average price of S$0.053 apiece.

Chua Beng Yong is one of the founders of the group, and has more than 30 years of experience in the marine, offshore, oil and gas industries. He has been serving as the executive chairman since January 2022. In this role, he oversees the overall management of the group, including the development and direction of corporate plans, business strategies and initiatives.

Tai Sin Electric

Between Apr 7 and 9, Tai Sin Electric executive director and CEO Bernard Lim acquired 216,700 shares at S$0.39 a share. This increased his total interest in the industrial group from 18.17 per cent to 18.22 per cent. Lim has gradually increased his total interest in the company from 14.82 per cent at the end of 2019.

International Cement Group

International Cement Group executive director Chng Beng Hua acquired four million shares for a consideration of S$56,000 on Apr 9. At an average price S$0.014 a share, this increased his total interest in the producer and distributor of cement and gypsum plasterboards from 0.44 per cent to 0.51 per cent. His preceding acquisition was in April 2024, with 3,022,700 shares acquired at S$0.018 each.

Enviro-Hub Holdings

On Apr 8, Enviro-Hub Holdings executive chairman Raymond Ng acquired 900,000 shares of the company at S$0.022 cents a share. With a consideration of S$19,800, this took his total interest in the environmental management solutions group from 29.1 per cent to 29.16 per cent. His preceding acquisitions were in November 2024, which saw him increase his total interest from 28.73 per cent to 29.1 per cent with the acquisition of 5,797,600 shares at between S$0.023 and S$0.027 apiece.

The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX’s market research reports, visit sgx.com/research.