Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened flat on Wedneday. STI was unchanged; ThaiBev up 2%; Sembcorp up 1%; Singtel and Wilmar down 1%.

Stocks in Focus

Singtel : A second disruption of mobile services in as many days hit some of the telco’s users on Tuesday. Singtel said the problems were unrelated to the outage the day before that affected thousands of users and disrupted essential services. Mobile connectivity on Tuesday was restored around 5 pm, said the telco. Shares of Singtel rose 2.6 per cent to close S$0.13 higher on Tuesday at S$5.17.

Suntec Reit : Gordon Tang’s Tang Organization, the new sponsor of Suntec Reit, said it plans to “undertake a comprehensive strategic review” of the trust’s portfolio. It said the initiatives could “support higher distributions” in the coming years, while balancing Suntec Reit’s capital management needs and long-term sustainability. Suntec Reit rose 1.5 per cent to close S$0.02 higher at S$1.40 on Tuesday, before the strategic review was announced.

ComfortDelGro (CDG) : The transport group on Tuesday said it will roll out a temporary driver fee for ride-hailing bookings and raise metered taxi rates. This aims to support cabbies grappling with higher operating costs amid rising fuel prices, with all such fees to go directly to drivers. The temporary measures will take effect from Mar 24 to May 31. CDG shares fell 0.7 per cent to close S$0.01 lower on Tuesday at S$1.44.

Marco Polo Marine : The integrated marine logistics services company on Wednesday said its indirect subsidiary has won its first long-term charter contract in Taiwan valued at around NT$2.9 billion (S$116 million). The venture is with Taiwan’s Marine Port Bureau. It involves the charter of one emergency tug boat or salvage vessel to support Taiwan’s maritime emergency response framework over 15 years. Shares of Marco Polo Marine ended Tuesday 4.8 per cent or S$0.007 higher at S$0.153.

Olam Group : The group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Olam Food Ingredients (ofi), secured its inaugural dual-tranche syndicated loan facility valued at 1.1 billion euros (S$1.6 billion). It comprises a two-year 450 million euro revolving credit tranche, with a lenders’ extension option of one year, in addition to a three-year 650 million euro term loan tranche. Proceeds from the facility will go to refinancing of ofi’s existing loans, and general corporate purposes. Shares of Olam Group ended 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.875 on Tuesday.

SG Local News

MAS issues prohibition orders against ex-bankers involved in S$3 billion money laundering scandal

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Tuesday (Mar 17) issued prohibition orders against two former bankers from Citigroup and Swiss private bank Julius Baer who were convicted in 2023’s S$3 billion money laundering scandal.

Wang Qiming, previously a relationship manager at Citibank Singapore, was given a 16-year prohibition order, and Liu Kai, who was formerly a relationship manager at Julius Baer, was issued with a seven-year prohibition order.