Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened lower on Wednesday. STI fell 0.2%; AF Global rose 14%; SGX rose 0.7%; NIO fell 2%; DBS and Info-Tech fell 1%.

Stocks in Focus

DBS: The bank’s shares hit a new record high on Tuesday, driving its market capitalisation beyond S$150 billion. It now has nearly double the market capitalisation of its nearest banking rival, OCBC. Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said that DBS offers investors growth, safety and income, as well as balance-sheet safety and a dependable cash flow. Its shares closed 3 per cent or S$1.60 up at S$54.80 on Tuesday.

Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit): The manager of the Reit announced an agreement to acquire a 75 per cent interest in a freehold retail mall in Sydney, for A$393.8 million (S$334.8 million). The acquisition of Top Ryde City Shopping Centre marks the Reit’s expansion into the retail sector, the manager said on Wednesday. The Reit will issue around 112.5 million new units via a private placement to raise S$113 million to fund the acquisition. Units of Keppel Reit closed flat on Tuesday at S$1.03, before the manager called for a trading halt on Wednesday morning.

NetLink NBN Trust: The internet service provider opened a S$110 million new central office in Seletar on Tuesday. The central office will support NetLink’s fibre network infrastructure in Singapore’s northern and north-western regions, which are expected to undergo significant development. NetLink has designed, built and operated Singapore’s fibre internet infrastructure since 2008. Units of NetLink NBN Trust closed S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent up at S$0.96 on Tuesday, before the announcement.

StarHub: The telecommunications operator on Tuesday priced S$200 million in subordinated perpetual securities at 3.35 per cent under its S$2 billion multi-currency debt issuance programme. The securities will be issued in denominations of S$250,000 each. DBS and UOB have been appointed as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the perpetual securities, which are expected to be issued on or around Oct 14. Net proceeds from the issue will be used to finance StarHub’s “general corporate funding requirements or investments”. StarHub shares fell S$0.01 or 0.9 per cent to S$1.13 on Tuesday, before the news.

Info-Tech: The software provider announced on Tuesday that its chief financial officer (CFO), Gan Lai Thong, will leave the company to “pursue his own personal interests” after Dec 31. This comes just three months after it made its debut on the Singapore Exchange mainboard. Gan, 62, held the position of CFO since May 2021. Shares of Info-Tech closed S$0.01 or 1.1 per cent up at S$0.89 on Tuesday, before the news.

Aspial, AF Global: A consortium comprising Aspial and an entity linked to the Koh family behind it, JK Global Investment, is proposing to acquire some 27.4 per cent or 288.7 million of shares in mainboard listed AF Global at S$0.11 apiece. These exclude the 41.8 per cent of shares owned by Aspial and the 30.9 per cent owned by Koh Wee Meng, property developer Fragrance Group’s executive chairman and brother of Koh Wee Seng, who helms Aspial. The total consideration for the acquisition is around S$31.8 million. On Tuesday, shares of Aspial closed flat at S$0.103 while AF Global shares closed flat at S$0.096.

SG Local News

US Senate Confirms Dr Anjani Sinha as New Ambassador to Singapore

The United States Senate on Tuesday (Oct 7) confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee Anjani Sinha as ambassador to Singapore.

The orthopaedic surgeon was among a slew of nominees voted in by a 51-47 simple majority for various positions.

Dr Sinha is a surgeon on the East Coast specialising in orthopaedics and sports medicine.

The US State Department previously said he is an "accomplished entrepreneur, having built multiple thriving key-man practices with specialised teams across eight locations in New York, and has served as a senior surgical consultant in Florida".

He is a graduate of MGM Medical School and Delhi University in India, with a Masters of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Billionaire Ray Dalio Backs Singapore-Led Mission to Map Oceans

Billionaire Ray Dalio’s philanthropic arm is backing new research in the Indian Ocean to bolster marine protection after nations pledged to curb exploitation of the deep seas.

A former oil exploration ship operated by Dalio’s nonprofit OceanX set sail Tuesday (Oct 7) from Singapore on a 24-day study of a chain of underwater mountains across an area of more than 17,000 square km. 

Scientists from nations including Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji have joined the Singapore-led mission, aimed at improving understanding of ocean biodiversity in a largely unexplored region. The study comes after dozens of countries ratified a landmark United Nations treaty on deep sea conservation, and amid a surge in interest in the prospects of mining the sea floor for critical metals.