Institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions through to Aug 24, with S$73 million of net institutional inflow, while 21 primary-listed companies conducting buybacks with a total consideration of S$25.8 million.

UOB led the share buyback consideration tally, buying back 360,000 shares at an average price of S$27.93 per share, followed by Sembcorp Industries which bought back 1,095,000 shares at an average price of S$5.35 per share.

Olam Group also bought back three million shares at an average price of S$1.24 per share.

DBS Group Holdings, Seatrium, OCBC, UOB, Wilmar International, ST Engineering, ComfortDelGro, Singapore Exchange, CapitaLand Ascendas Reit and UMS Holdings led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions.

Meanwhile, leading the net institutional outflow over the five sessions were Singapore Airlines, Singtel, Venture Corporation, Sembcorp Industries, Keppel Corporation, City Developments, Lendlease Commercial Reit, Sats, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and OUE Commercial Reit.

The five trading sessions saw close to 100 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 40 primary-listed stocks. This included 23 company director acquisitions with no disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed eight acquisitions and four disposals.

Acquisitions were filed for directors or CEOs of Bonvests Holdings, China Sunsine Chemical Holdings, CSE Global, Envictus International Holdings, Fortress Minerals, Huationg Global, IFS Capital, JEP Holdings, Kim Heng, Marco Polo Marine, QAF and Sinostar PEC Holdings.

On the Thailand blue-chip Singapore Depository Receipts (SDRs) front, all three Thai-underlying SDRs ended higher in the week of Aug 18-24 as the election of a new Thai prime minister lifted investor sentiments.

CP All (trading code: TCPD), the exclusive operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, and Airports of Thailand (trading code: TATD) were the best performers over the five sessions.

PTT Exploration & Production (trading code: TPED) was the top traded SDR over the five sessions and attracted the largest net buying interest by individual investors as prices eased off from highs in the earlier half of August.

QAF

Between Aug 17 and Aug 23, QAF joint group managing director and executive director Lin Kejian acquired 1,586,000 shares at an average price of S$0.80 per share. With a consideration of S$1,269,535, this increased Lin’s total interest in QAF from 48.30 per cent to 48.58 per cent.

This followed his acquisition of 450,000 shares at an average price of S$0.79 per share on Aug 15.

Prior to this, his preceding acquisitions were back in late June 2020, with 47,600 shares acquired at an average price of at S$0.78 per share.

Lin was first appointed as a non-executive director of the company in December 2007. In October 2010, he became an executive director of the company, holding the post of operations director.

He assumed the position of deputy group managing director of the QAF Group in September 2014, and thereafter joint group managing director of the QAF Group with effect from January 2017.

QAF reports most of its revenue to the Philippines, which contributed 46 per cent of its first-half FY2023 (ended Jun 30) and FY2022 revenue. Singapore contributed 36 per cent of its H1 FY2023 (ended Jun 30) and FY2022 revenue.

For H1 FY2023, the group’s bakery segment sales increased by 10 per cent (or 17 per cent in constant currency terms) to S$216.1 million, while the distribution and warehousing segment achieved a 12 per cent increase in revenue to S$80.3 million, mainly driven by higher sales to food services, export and retail supermarkets.

This year, the group is continuing to concentrate on stable revenue growth by expanding its distribution channels, developing new products, and making strategic pricing and product mix adjustments to maintain its competitive position.

This parallels the group’s efforts to expanding its trading and distribution business with the capital-light, scalable approach, concentrating on the sale and distribution of long shelf-life products that complements its expansive distribution and supply chain network across Asean, with the potential to expand into China and the Australasia region.

The group has also been reviewing manufacturing and distribution efficiency, capacity utilisation, and cost management.

QAF maintains that over the years, the loyal support of its customers has enabled the group to attain “Superbrands” status for Gardenia, Cowhead, and Farmland, and “Top Influential Brand” and “Singapore’s No 1 Selling Bread Brand” status for Gardenia.

JEP Holdings

Between Aug 18 and Aug 23, JEP Holdings executive chairman and CEO Andy Luong acquired 2,021,900 shares at an average price of S$0.302 per share.

With a consideration of S$610,501, this took his direct interest in the Catalist-listed provider of precision machining and engineering services from 0.70 per cent to 1.19 per cent.

Luong holds 15.89 per cent of the issued share capital of UMS Holdings, which in turn holds 73.85 per cent of the issued share capital of the company. This brings his total interest in JEP Holdings to 75.04 per cent.

Luong is also the executive chairman and CEO of UMS Holdings and has more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing front-end semiconductor components. As relayed over recent years, JEP Holdings has looked to maximise operational synergies with UMS Holdings to improve overall performance and seek new growth opportunities.

On Aug 11, JEP Holdings reported a 33.7 per cent decrease in H1 FY2023 (ended Jun 30) revenue from H1 FY2022, primarily attributed to a weaker performance from its equipment manufacturing and precision machining segments, which were impacted by the lower global demand for semiconductors.

Luong noted that while the global slowdown in demand for semiconductors and the economic challenges such as recession led to the group’s lower H1 FY2023 performance, JEP Holdings remained profitable with a healthy financial position. He added that the group will continue to focus on its twin growth engines in the semiconductor industry and the aerospace industry.

The group’s new factory in Penang, Malaysia is also scheduled for completion in the second half of 2023.

Sinostar PEC Holdings

Between Aug 18 and Aug 24, Sinostar PEC Holdings executive chairman and CEO Li Xiang Ping acquired 1.4 million shares at an average price of S$0.138 per share. With a consideration of S$193,681, this increased his deemed interest in the China-based producer and supplier of downstream petrochemical products from 57.91 per cent to 58.13 per cent.

Li noted in late April that as a producer of basic chemical raw materials, Sinostar PEC benefits from strong and growing demand in China, as well as stable raw material supply, advanced production technology, and an extensive marketing network.

He added that Sinostar PEC has made significant progress in optimising its entire value chain and in developing new products to meet customer and market demands.

For its second-quarter FY2023 (ended Jun 30) Sinostar PEC Holdings reported a turnaround net profit of 10.5 million yuan (S$2 million) from a net loss of 6.7 million yuan in Q2 FY2022.

Li started his career as an accountant at Dongming County Medicine Company in 1983, before joining the Dongming County Audit Bureau as its deputy bureau officer in 1986 where he managed internal discipline issues.

In 1993, he joined Dongming County Petroleum Refining Factory as the finance manager and subsequently became the chief accountant of Dongming County Petroleum Refining Factory and was overall in charge of the financial management of the factory.

In 1998, he was appointed director and chief auditor of Shandong Dongming Petrochem Group and handled the daily operations of the business as well as the accounting functions of the company. In 2001, Li was appointed chairman of Dongming Petrochem group and has since been responsible for the overall development and operations of the business.

Li is also a People’s Representative in the annual National People’s Congress of Shandong Province.

Sinostar PEC Holdings is one of the largest producers and suppliers of downstream petrochemical products within the 400 km radius of its production facilities within the Dongming Petrochem Industrial Zone in Dongming County of Shandong Province.

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