For the five trading sessions that spanned Jul 7 to Jul 13, the Straits Times Index (STI) rallied 2.8 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index gained 2.0 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI remained unchanged.

Institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks over the five sessions with S$67 million of net inflow. Seatrium, Wilmar International, Singapore Airlines (SIA), UOL Group and DBS Group led the net institutional inflow for the five sessions.

Meanwhile, UOB, OCBC, Sembcorp Industries, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Suntec Reit led the institutional outflow over the five sessions.

After the trio of banks, Singtel, SIA and Seatrium have ranked as the most traded Singapore stocks this year by turnover.

While Singtel has booked S$200 million in net institutional outflow in the year through to Jul 13, SIA and Seatrium have booked a combined S$259 million in net institutional inflow.

On the new Thailand blue-chip Singapore Depository Receipts (SDR) front, both Airports of Thailand and CP All SDR attracted net buying interest from individual investors for the second consecutive week in July, with most inflows to Airports of Thailand as investors accumulated on a price decline spanning Jul 7 to 13.

As reported by The Business Times on Jun 28, the World Bank raised Thailand’s 2023 growth outlook from 3.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent, supported by private consumption growth and recovery in tourism. Airports of Thailand is a direct beneficiary of the pickup in tourism while CP All, the exclusive operator of 7-Elevens and supermarkets in Thailand, maintains significant exposure to domestic consumption.

PTT Exploration & Production, Asean’s largest listed exploration and production petroleum company, lodged the strongest gains of the SDR trio over the week.

PTT Exploration & Production saw a 3.6 per cent gain over the five sessions to Jul 13, taking the month-to-Jul-13 gain to 5.1 per cent.

Share buybacks

There were 13 primary-listed companies conducting share buybacks over the five trading sessions through to Jul 13 with a total consideration of S$10 million, following the S$12.8 million in combined consideration for the preceding week.

UOB again led the buyback consideration tally, buying back 288,000 shares at an average price of S$27.39 per share.

Director and substantial shareholder transactions 

The five trading sessions saw less than 70 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for around 30 primary-listed stocks.

This included 12 company director acquisitions with one disposal filed, while substantial shareholders filed 10 acquisitions and nine disposals.

Union Gas Holdings

Between Jul 11 and 12, Union Gas Holdings executive director and CEO Teo Hark Piang acquired 97,500 shares of the mainboard-listed and established provider of fuel products for a consideration of S$35,253.

At an average price of S$0.362 cents per share, this took Teo’s direct interest from 8.02 per cent to 8.05 per cent.

Teo has more than 17 years of experience in the manufacture of gas, the distribution of gaseous fuels through mains and the general wholesale trade and retail sales to households in Singapore.

Before taking over the role of CEO in April 2019, he was the group’s director of sales (commercial and industrial) responsible for overseeing the marketing strategies of the commercial and industrial segments.

He was also an executive director of Union Energy Corporation between 2003 and 2018, where he now remains a non-executive director.

With over 40 years of operating track record, Union Gas Holdings’ three key businesses comprise liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, and diesel.

In April 2023, Teo maintained that business prospects remained strong because of the essential nature of the group’s business, evidenced by the record revenue achieved in FY22 (ended Dec 31). The FY22 total revenue of S$134.8 million increased 9.6 per cent from S$123.0 million in FY21 driven by revenue growth across all three business segments.

In FY22, the natural gas segment saw the greatest revenue growth to S$3.9 million, from S$2.3 million in FY21. The segment comprises a 24-hour fuel station under the Cnergy brand at 50 Old Toh Tuck Road, where it produces, sells, and distributes compressed natural gas primarily to natural-gas vehicles and industrial customers for their commercial use.

The station has 14 compressed natural-gas dispensers with two nozzles each and is open to the public. In 2020, the group diversified into the supply of piped natural gas and liquefied natural gas to customers in the services and manufacturing sectors.

LPG is the largest revenue generator of the group, contributing about 80 per cent of total sales annually, and comprised S$105.6 million of the S$134.8 million total revenue. The group’s LPG operations span across the entire value chain, making it one of the largest LPG players in Singapore.

Besides supplying LPG cylinders to domestic households, Union Gas’ LPG business extends to the commercial and industrial segment, including the provision of LPG and LPG-related services and accessories to hawker centres, coffee shops, eating houses, commercial central kitchens, and industrial customers.

In addition, Union Gas is involved in the sale of LPG-related accessories, to mainly domestic households in Singapore, and the group owns one of the largest delivery fleets in Singapore with more than 200 vehicles to support islandwide distribution.

Teo also maintains that control over the LPG supply chain enhances the group’s ability to withstand and overcome economic cyclicalities and, like most businesses, the group is concerned about rising cost of operations, which they remain vigilant about, and have taken steps to streamline its corporate structure.

On Jan 1, 2023, the group amalgamated two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, U-Gas and Union LPG, with the latter as the surviving amalgamated entity. The merger of the two subsidiaries forms part of the group’s strategy to streamline its organisational structure for better overall management control and efficiency in the current high-cost environment.

As a result of higher direct material costs, Union Gas Holding’s gross profit declined 15.4 per cent to $35.21 million, from FY21, due to a 22.3 per cent increase in cost of sales to $99.59 million in FY22.

In a response to a shareholder question ahead of the April 2023 annual general meeting, Teo relayed that international energy prices were volatile in FY22 due to the prolonged conflict in Eastern Europe as well as worldwide demand and supply dynamics, stating this was the main contributor to high material costs.

The group is expected to report its first-half FY23 financials in mid-August.

JB Foods

On Jul 11, JB Foods non-independent, non-executive director and vice-chairman Goi Seng Hui also acquired 75,000 shares at S$0.51 per share. With a consideration of S$38,250, the acquisition increased his total interest in the company from 24.54 per cent to 24.56 per cent.

JB Foods is a major cocoa ingredients producer with operations spanning Asia-Pacific (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore), Europe, North America and West Africa, and a cocoa bean processing capacity of 180,000 tonnes per year.

On Jul 5, JB Foods executive director Goh Lee Beng acquired 3,600 shares at S$0.51 per share, maintaining her direct interest in the company at 1.67 per cent.

She also maintains a 45.52 per cent deemed interest in JB Foods through the shares held by JB Cocoa Group.

Effective Jul 1, JB Foods appointed Lim Tong Tee as an independent director of the company, following the cessation of Michael Chua Cheow Khoon as lead independent director and chairman of the company.

This has also seen Chin Koon Yew redesignated as lead independent director and chairman of the company.

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