INSTITUTIONS were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions through to Oct 12, with S$28 million of net institutional outflow, as 19 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$7.7 million.

OCBC led the share buyback consideration tally, buying back 300,000 shares at an average price of S$12.87 per share, followed by Sembcorp Industries which bought back 365,000 shares at an average price of S$4.96 per share. Heavy lifting specialist Sin Heng Heavy Machinery also bought back 648,200 shares at an average price of S$0.49 per share.

Leading the net institutional outflow over the five sessions were UOB, Singapore Airlines, DBS, Thai Beverage, Jardine Matheson, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Singtel, Wilmar International, CapitaLand Ascendas Reit and Sembcorp Industries.

Meanwhile, OCBC, Venture Corporation, Singapore Exchange, ComfortDelGro Corporation, AEM, UMS, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Seatrium, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Sats led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions.

The five trading sessions saw 50 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for close to 30 primary-listed stocks. This included 11 company director acquisitions with two disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed nine acquisitions and three disposals.

Companies that saw directors or CEOs acquire shares included Hock Lian Seng Holdings, Intraco, ISEC Healthcare, JB Foods, Nam Lee Pressed Metal Industries, Noel Gifts International, QAF, Raffles Education and YKGI.

Wing Tai Holdings

Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung continued to build his deemed interest in the company, through his spouse Helen Chow acquiring shares. From Oct 6 through to Oct 12, Cheng increased his deemed interest in the leading real estate developer and lifestyle retailer by 576,300 shares.

He maintains a 61.03 per cent total interest in the company. Since Sep 8, Chow has acquired 1.75 million shares.

Cheng was appointed to the board of Wing Tai Holdings in 1973 and plays a pivotal role in the growth and success of the group’s business.

He concurrently serves as deputy chairman of Singapore investment company Temasek and chairman of Singapore Health Services.

This year, Wing Tai Holdings celebrated 60 years since The Wing Tai Garment Manufactory (Singapore) was established to meet growing industry demand and became the first factory to produce jeans in Singapore.

The company entered the Singapore property market in 1978 and now owns and manages a portfolio of quality real estate developments in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong.

In addition, its retail business represents global brands including Adidas and G2000 in Singapore as well as Mango and Furla in Malaysia.

For its FY23 (ended Jun 30), the group recorded a total revenue of S$476.3 million, representing a 7 per cent decrease from FY22. This was mainly due to the lower contribution from development properties.

Hock Lian Seng Holdings

On Oct 9, Hock Lian Seng Holdings director & CEO Chua Leong Hai acquired 1,105,100 shares at S$0.25 per share.

With a consideration of S$276,275 this increased his direct interest in the civil engineering group from 37.91 per cent to 38.12 per cent.

Chua is the founder of the group and a controlling shareholder of the company. He has also played an instrumental role in the growth of the business from a small construction player, that was initially established in 1969.

The group is organised into three main business segments – civil engineering, property development, and property investment.

For its first half 2023 (H1FY23 – ended Jun 30), the civil engineering segment contributed 84 per cent of the revenue of Hock Lian Seng Holdings, with property development contributing most of the remaining revenue, in addition to a marginal contribution from the property investment segment.

For H1FY23, Hock Lian Seng Holdings’ profit after tax increased by 16.7 per cent from H1FY22, to S$8.9 million.

Property development was the key contributor to the H1FY23 gross profit, with the group noting that despite higher revenue, the gross profit for the civil engineering segment was lower than H1FY22, as the gross margin for the ongoing projects was squeezed by escalating labour, staff, and material cost.

The group also noted that the order book for the civil engineering segment stands at approximately S$789 million as at Jun 30. It includes mainly the Aviation Park station project and Serangoon North Station project.

The joint venture Changi Airport Group project is expected to be substantially completed by end 2023, and the group’s industrial building project, Shine@TuasSouth, has sold 21 per cent and leased 77 per cent of the total units as at the reporting of the H1FY23 results on Aug 3.

Intraco

On Oct 9, Intraco executive chairman and director Mak Lye Mun acquired 400,000 shares at an average price of S$0.28 per share. With a consideration of S$110,600, this took his direct interest in the company to 0.36 per cent.

Intraco was placed on the watch list of the Singapore Exchange with effect from Jun 6, 2023, in accordance with Rule 1311(1) of the SGX-ST Listing Manual.

On Aug 7, the company released its unaudited financial statements for its H1FY23 (ended Jun 30), recording a net profit of S$0.4 million compared to a loss of S$1.0 million for H1FY22.

Mak was appointed executive chairman on Jul 15, 2022. He was independent non-executive chairman of Intraco from Apr 29, 2021.

He has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry and was made CEO of CIMB Bank Singapore and country head in 2008, where he focused on delivering greater synergy and value across the Singapore franchise. He held both roles until his retirement in December 2019.

He was subsequently appointed adviser to the CEO of CIMB Group from Jan 2020 till his retirement in March 2021.

Noel Gifts International

Between Oct 5 and Oct 12, Noel Gifts International managing director Alfred Wong Siu Hong acquired 453,500 shares at an average price of S$0.211.

With a consideration of S$95,743 this increased his total interest in the leading hampers, flowers, and gifts company from 45.51 per cent to 45.96 per cent.

Wong is the founder of the group, serving as managing director since its commencement in 1975. Since 1997, he has been spearheading the property division, overseeing property investment and development.

Noel Gifts International’s FY23 (ended Jun 30) revenue of S$18.5 million represented a 10.3 per cent decrease from FY22.

This was due to the fall in gift sales, which was partially offset by the 13.4 per cent increase in rental from the property business.

For FY23, the group reported a gross profit of S$8.9 million, a decrease of 11.4 per cent from FY22, with its gross profit margin slipping from 48.7 per cent in FY22 to 48.1 per cent in FY23 due to higher costs in the supply chain.

Wong maintains that in response to the current operating environment, the group is adopting various new marketing and sales strategies to increase sales and will continue to actively manage costs and improve efficiency.

Avarga

Between Oct 5 and 6, Avarga executive chairman Tong Kooi Ong acquired 243,000 shares at an average price of S$0.169 per share.

With a consideration of S$41,165 this increased his deemed interest in the company from 32.52 per cent to 32.54 per cent. Tong is also on the board of Taiga Building Products, a subsidiary of the group that is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada.

He is also a nominee director of Khazanah Nasional and sits on the board of M+S Pte Ltd. For its H1FY23 (ended Jun 30), the building products segment continued to contribute more than 95 per cent of the group’s total revenue.

The group total revenue for H1FY23 was S$864.7 million, compared to S$1.379 billion for H1FY22.

Revenue from the building products business of Taiga for H1FY23 was S$847.9 million compared to S$1.353 billion over the same period the previous year.

The fall in revenue from Taiga was largely due to lower selling prices for its commodity products during the period under review.

The group noted that Taiga’s financial performance is primarily dependent on the residential construction, renovation, and repairs markets in North America, adding that these markets are affected by the strength or weakness in the general economy and so are influenced by interest rates and other general market indicators.

Taiga caters to both the primary housing and renovation markets with its primary and secondary markets in Canada and the United States respectively.

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

Enjoying this read?

• Subscribe now to the weekly SGX My Gateway newsletter for a compilation of latest market news, sector performances, new product release updates, and research reports on SGX-listed companies.
• Stay up-to-date with our SGX Invest Telegram channel.