Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened lower on Thursday. STI fell 0.3%; NIO and DBS rose 1%; Riverstone fell 5%; Singtel and Keppel fell about 2%.

Stocks to Watch

DBS: The bank’s net profit for its first quarter fell due to higher tax expenses from the implementation of the 15 per cent global minimum tax, it said on Thursday. Net profit for the three months ended Mar 31, 2025, stood at S$2.9 billion, 2 per cent lower than the S$2.95 billion from the year-ago period. The earnings beat the S$2.87 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of eight analysts. Shares of DBS closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.23 lower at S$42.76 on Wednesday.

Great Eastern: The life insurance company on Thursday posted a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to S$345.5 million for the first quarter ended March, versus S$306.7 million in the same period the year before. This was driven by higher profit from the insurance business, which was at S$246.8 million, up 4 per cent year on year. Moreover, there was favourable investment performance in the group’s shareholders fund which rose 40 per cent year on year to reach S$98.7 million this quarter. Shares of Great Eastern closed flat on Wednesday at S$25.80.

Riverstone: The glove manufacturer on Wednesday posted a profit of RM56.4 million (S$17.2 million) for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, sliding 21.8 per cent from RM72.2 million in the corresponding year-ago period. This resulted in an earnings per share of RM0.0381, compared with RM0.0487 a year ago. The lower profit is despite revenue rising 1.1 per cent to RM252.3 million, from RM249.5 million, said the company. The group’s top line for the quarter rose due to higher sales volume for healthcare gloves and stable contribution from the cleanroom gloves segment. However, higher raw material costs and the depreciation of the US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit contributed to gross profit margin dropping 6.5 percentage points to 32.6 per cent in this quarter, said Riverstone. Shares of Riverstone closed at S$0.935 on Wednesday, up S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent, before the announcement.

Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (LReit): The trust on Wednesday posted a positive retail rental reversion of 10.4 per cent for the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, despite a “softer” retail landscape. The performance came even as it recorded a 0.2 per cent decline in visitation and a 5.1 per cent drop in tenant sales year-to-date. Both were affected by softer retail conditions, outbound tourism and weakness in sectors including shoes and bags, and fashion and accessories. However, LReit’s retail portfolio achieved a strong occupancy rate of 99.5 per cent and a healthy tenant retention rate by net lettable area of 87.9 per cent, the manager said. Units of Lendlease Global Commercial Reit closed unchanged at S$0.515 on Wednesday, before the release of the business update.

Amara, Ban Leong Technologies: Hotel group Amara and technology products distributor Ban Leong Technologies on Wednesday separately announced that they have appointed independent financial advisers (IFAs) as they mull offers to be taken private. Amara has appointed W Capital Markets as its IFA for a voluntary conditional general offer from a consortium led by property company Hwa Hong. The offeror, a special-purpose vehicle called DRC Investments, launched the offer on Apr 28 at S$0.895 a share. The offer is final and values Amara at S$514.6 million. Meanwhile, Ban Leong has chosen Asian Corporate Advisors as its IFA as it considers a cash offer from video game distributor Epicsoft Asia, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed GCL Global. The offer of S$0.6029 per share to Ban Leong’s shareholders comes as GCL Global “seeks to integrate Ban Leong’s distribution and vendor network with (its) digital capabilities and software portfolio”, GCL Global chief executive Sebastian Toke told The Business Times in a recent interview. Amara’s shares were flat at S$0.885 on Wednesday and Ban Leong shares added S$0.005 or 0.8 per cent to close at S$0.595 on Wednesday.

SG Local News

DBS Tweaks 2025 Guidance as Q1 Profit Beats Expectations

Singapore's biggest bank, DBS Group, flagged risk from heightened uncertainty and tweaked its 2025 guidance after posting on Thursday a 2% drop in first-quarter net profit that beat expectations.

DBS, which is Southeast Asia's biggest lender by assets, said its January-March net profit declined to S$2.9 billion ($2.24 billion) from S$2.95 billion a year earlier, due to higher tax expenses from the implementation of the 15% global minimum tax. It was the first on-year drop since the first quarter of 2022.

But the result beat the mean estimate of S$2.82 billion from two analysts, according to LSEG data.

It announced an ordinary dividend of 60 Singapore cents per share and a capital return dividend of 15 cents for the first quarter.

Grab Looks to Strike a Deal to Acquire Indonesia's GoTo in Q2, Sources Say

U.S.-listed ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab is looking to strike a deal to take over smaller Indonesian rival GoTo in the second quarter, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Singapore-headquartered Grab has hired advisers to work on the proposed deal, the two sources added. The deal is subject to terms such as financing, which Grab is in discussion with banks, one of the sources added.

A deal could value GoTo at around $7 billion, according to a separate source with knowledge of the matter. Jakarta-listed GoTo's shares have climbed 20% year-to-date, giving it a market value of around $5.8 billion, LSEG data showed.

Singapore Sets up New GasCo Entity, Appoints Chief Executive, Says Regulator

Singapore's energy regulator said on Wednesday the country has established a fully government-owned entity called Singapore GasCo to centralise the procurement and supply of gas to the power sector in the city-state.

The entity would also reap economies of scale and negotiate more favourable gas contracting terms, procure natural gas from diverse sources, and sign longer-term gas contracts to provide more stable supply and prices, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said in a statement.

The EMA also said Alan Heng has been appointed as Singapore GasCo's chief executive. Heng was the group chief executive of Singaporean liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Pavilion Energy until March 2025.