Singapore shares closed higher this week after US and China agreed on a deal to slash reciprocal tariffs for a 90-day period, taking them down by 115%. The Straits Times Index (STI) ended at 3,897.87, up 21.71 points or 0.56% for the week.

Ong Beng Seng’s HPL Jumps Almost 20% in Heavy Trading

Shares of Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL) jumped almost 20 per cent in active trading this week, prompting queries from Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Friday.

After news broke that founder and erstwhile managing director Ong Beng Seng was stepping down, there has been talk that new players may be keen on the company. The Business Times columnist Leslie Yee also argued that with Ong’s exit, selling his stake is the logical next step.

Responding to the query on Friday afternoon, HPL said that it was not aware of any unannounced information that might explain the trading. It said it was in compliance with SGX RegCo’s listing rules, particularly its obligation to disclose any material information concerning the company.

Sinarmas Supports IFA Valuation Amid SGX Queries

Sinarmas Land defended the valuation methods used by the independent financial adviser (IFA) in the offer by Lyon Investments for shares in the company, in its response to queries by Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Tuesday (May 13).

The company, after consulting the adviser W Capital Markets, said that the IFA had deemed the holding company discount applied to its unlisted assets to be within “a reasonable range to adopt”.

In its assessment of Lyon Investments’ initial offer price of S$0.31 a share, W Capital Markets had noted that the offer was not fair but reasonable, based on its valuation of S$0.35 to S$0.361 per share. This valuation had applied a 20 to 22 per cent holding company discount to the company’s unlisted assets.

DBS Maintains “Buy” on HPHT, Calls 90-Day Trade Truce a Meaningful Catalyst

DBS Group Research has reiterated its "buy" call and 18 US cents target price on $Hutchison Port Holdings, after news of a 90-day trade truce between the US and China which is seen as a "meaningful short-term catalyst" that supports near-term recovery in its container handling volume and earnings.

Instead of a previous expectation of a 17% y-o-y drop in cargo volume in 2QFY2025, DBS is now projecting a "mild" decline.

The US will now charge a 30% rate on imports from China, down from 145%, while China will levy just 10%, instead of 125%.

HPHT owns a network of container ports including Yantian in Shenzhen.

DBS, citing container liners, says that outbound container volumes to the US declined by around 30% in April after US President Donald Trump announced the universal "reciprocal" tariffs.

SingPost Falls Most on Record on Underlying Loss, Gloomy Outlook

Singapore Post Ltd.’s shares fell by a record after the company booked an underlying loss and issued a gloomy outlook on the back the of global trade tensions.

The shares dropped as much as 12% on Thursday, the deepest slump on record. The postal services firm booked an underlying loss of S$461,000 ($355,000) in the second half, from October to March, compared with S$28.1 million profit a year ago, it said. Revenue fell 12% year-on-year to S$387.5 million.

Revenue growth in property and freight forwarding was offset by declines in international cross-border businesses and Singapore postal and logistics, the report showed. International cross-border e-commerce logistics volumes continued to decline, down 43% from the same period a year earlier, amid geopolitical tensions and tough competitions.

SingPost expects persistent challenges to linger, with trade tensions predicted to pressure cross-border logistics volumes. These conditions worsened in the second half and “are expected to continue into the next financial year,” it said.