[SINGAPORE] Over the four trading sessions from Mar 28 to Apr 3, institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional inflow of S$76 million, partially reversing the S$170 million net outflow over the preceding 10 sessions. This brought the net institutional outflow for the year to Apr 3 to S$1.54 billion.
Institutional flows
Over the four trading sessions until Apr 3 inclusive, the stocks that had the highest net institutional inflow were Singtel, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Yangzijiang Financial, Sembcorp Industries, CapitaLand Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), OCBC, ST Engineering, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Singapore Airlines, and Singapore Post.
Meanwhile, UOB, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Seatrium, Keppel DC Reit, Venture Corporation, Sats, Genting Singapore, SIA Engineering, CapitaLand Investment, and Mapletree Industrial Trust led the net institutional outflow over the four sessions.
From a sector perspective, telecommunications and Singapore real estate investment trusts (Reits) experienced the highest net institutional inflow, while financial services had the most net institutional outflow.
Trading activity
The stocks that had some of the highest percentage increases in trading turnover – compared with the levels of the preceding three months – included SIA Engineering, Mandarin Oriental International, Oceanus Group, CNMC Goldmine, OKP, Boustead Singapore, Valuetronics, Yangzijiang Financial, SBS Transit, and Singapore Post.
Sinarmas Land also saw an increase in turnover following a voluntary unconditional cash offer of S$0.31 per share by an entity controlled by the Widjaja family for the shares it does not already own.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Share buybacks
Nineteen primary-listed companies conducted buybacks over the four sessions, with a total consideration of S$65 million – similar to the S$61 million over the five sessions prior. DBS Group led the tally, with 730,000 shares bought back at an average price of S$45.89 a share.
On Apr 3, Valuetronics bought back 1.6 million shares at an average price of S$0.64 per share. This took the number of shares bought back on the current mandate to 4,479,500, or 1.1 per cent of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares). Its previous buyback was conducted in November 2024.
The share price was hit by the Trump administration’s tariff measures, returning to the trading range of S$0.61 to S$0.64 seen from November to January.
ESR-Reit and Stoneweg European Reit also conducted buybacks over the four sessions. The manager of ESR-Reit bought back 2.4 million units at an average price of S$0.249 a unit, while the manager of Stoneweg European Reit repurchased units in its euro counter.
Director transactions
More than 50 director interests and substantial shareholdings were filed for more than 30 primary-listed stocks over the four trading sessions. Directors or chief executive officers filed five acquisitions and one disposal, while substantial shareholders filed five acquisition and four disposals.
These included director or CEO acquisitions in Accrelist, Chemical Industries (Far East), Oceanus Group and Union Steel.
Uni-Asia Group
Precious Shipping Public Company Limited (PSL) has become a substantial shareholder of Uni-Asia Group, following Unity Ventures’ acquisition of 46,000 shares on Mar 26. The shares were bought at an average price of S$0.798 apiece and took PSL’s total substantial shareholding above the 5 per cent threshold to 5.02 per cent, from 4.96 per cent previously.
PSL directly holds 100 per cent of the interests in Precious Shipping (Singapore), which in turn directly holds 100 per cent of the interests in Unity Ventures. PSL is a pure dry cargo shipowner operating in the handysize, supramax and ultramax sectors of the tramp freight market.
Established in December 1989, PSL commenced commercial operations in 1991 and has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1993. Its managing director, Khalid Moinuddin Hashim, has more than four decades of experience in the shipping industry, and has held his role since 1994. His previous positions include head of Teepee Corporation’s shipping department from 1984 to 1991.
In its FY2024 (ended Dec 31) annual report, PSL said that it and Unity Ventures had acquired additional shares of “a Singapore-listed company”, with 3.79 per cent of the shares owned as at Dec 31. This was up from 2.08 per cent the year before.
Based on information from two PSL annual reports, that Singapore-listed entity was likely Uni-Asia Group. In both reports, PSL highlighted the amount of dividend income associated with the investment. A separate Stock Exchange of Thailand filing showed that through its two wholly owned subsidiaries in Singapore, PSL has been investing in Uni-Asia Group since July 2023.
On Feb 28, Uni-Asia Group reported an increase in cash and bank balances by US$7.2 million to US$45.5 million, from US$38.3 million the year before. This was because the fair valuation loss it logged for FY2024 (ended Dec 31) was non-cash in nature.
Excluding the fair valuation loss, the group said it remains profitable with healthy cash flows. It proposed a final dividend of S$0.02 per share, subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming annual general meeting. Along with the interim dividend of S$0.01 per share distributed in September 2024, the total dividend for FY2024 was S$0.03 per share.
Oceanus Group
On Apr 2, Oceanus Group executive director and group CEO Peter Koh acquired 10 million shares at S$0.007 per share. This increased his total interest from 12.03 per cent to 12.07 per cent. His preceding acquisition was through a married deal in March 2024, through a sale and purchase agreement for 509,231,363 shares at S$0.008 apiece, from Sigma Shares. Koh has been gradually building his interest since 2017.
He has been the CEO of Oceanus Group since December 2014, leading the company’s strategic expansion beyond farming and contributing to its debt restructuring in 2017. Under his leadership, Oceanus exited the SGX watch list in September 2021, marking a significant corporate turnaround. With more than 30 years of diverse experience, Koh is also involved in various aquaculture innovation bodies and sustainability committees.
His recent acquisition took place five weeks after the group released its FY2024 (ended Dec 31) results. On Feb 28, Oceanus Group announced full-year revenue of S$290.6 million, marking a 16 per cent decline from its record high S$344.3 million revenue in FY2023.
The decrease was attributed mainly to the group’s streamlining efforts, which involved scaling back certain businesses – such as media, fruit trading and business-to-consumer e-commerce distributions – to concentrate on higher-growth areas. The cost-cutting measures led to a 6 per cent decline in operating expenses to S$19.9 million.
Meanwhile, it had a significant increase of 143 per cent in other operating income to S$7.1 million, due to gains from the disposal of interests in a subsidiary, as well as higher commission-based income during the fiscal year.
The group also noted that the timing mismatch between revenue recognition and cash collection, coupled with working capital adjustments and non-cash accounting entries, resulted in a net cash outflow from operations for FY2024.
Koh had previously expressed his enthusiasm for the group’s tech-up efforts. Along with its FY2024 results, Oceanus Group announced it had obtained approval to acquire a controlling stake in Opal Fintech.
The group said the strategic move bolsters its financial infrastructure and digital capabilities, enabling it to integrate advanced cross-border payment technology and multi-currency processing solutions into its global operations.
It added that its acquisition of Opal Fintech places it at the forefront of fintech innovation, facilitating faster settlements, greater transaction transparency and improved regulatory compliance. This is also expected to enhance the Oceanus Digital Network, which has processed more than S$200 million in global food trade payments in the past year.
By integrating fintech solutions, digital platforms and artificial intelligence-powered insights, Oceanus Group asserts that it is building a resilient, technology-driven ecosystem that enhances transparency, efficiency and sustainability across the global food supply chain. This commitment is encapsulated in its vision of food security that creates “food without borders”.
The writer is the market strategist at SGX. To read SGX’s market research reports, visit sgx.com/research.
