Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened flat on Thursday. STI unchanged; TalkMed and Seatrium up 1%; Aspen down 5%.

Stocks in Focus

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) : The manager of CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT), a CLI subsidiary, on Thursday proposed the establishment and listing of a publicly traded infrastructure securities investment fund, CapitaLand Commercial C-Reit on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It has also announced that its wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a conditional agreement to sell 100 per cent of its interest in CapitaMalls Hunan Commmercial Property as part of its participation in the C-Reit listing. Shares of CLI closed 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$2.61 on Wednesday.

TalkMed : The tertiary healthcare service provider on Thursday announced that the first court hearing for its proposed privatisation will take place at 2.30pm on Jun 17. This follows a joint announcement regarding the offer to acquire all shares in the company, which requires approval from a majority in number of shareholders representing at least 75 per cent of shares voted. Shares of TalkMed closed 1.1 per cent or S$0.005 lower at S$0.44 on Wednesday.

Aspen : The company has announced that it will be shutting its Kanada-Ya ramen chain as subsidiaries are unable to pay debts. The group announced that Kanada-Ya Singapore and Kanada-Ya Restaurants will be placed into creditors’ voluntary liquidation after ceasing all operations. The decision follows continued losses amid high operating cost, weak consumer demand and reduced support from the franchisor, the group said on Wednesday. Shares of Aspen closed 2.4 per cent or S$0.001 higher at S$0.042 on Wednesday, before the news.

SG Local News

Singapore retail vacancy creeping up with more tenants looking to exit

Retail space vacancy across Singapore crept up in the first quarter as net take-up slowed and fresh supply hit the market, with leasing agents observing more tenants looking to pre-terminate their leases.

Islandwide, retail vacancy inched up to 6.8 per cent in Q1 2025 from 6.2 per cent in the previous quarter, based on government data.

Some 323,000 square feet (sq ft) of new space came on stream in Q1, a report by Savills Singapore showed. And net demand for retail spaces stood at a negative 129,000 sq ft in the period, reversing five quarters of positive take-up, as occupancy fell across most areas.

Singapore Order Leads Unlicensed Crypto Exchanges to Weigh Exit

A final warning from Singapore’s regulator has prompted major crypto exchanges operating in the country without a permit to plan for a hasty exit.

Bitget and Bybit — top-10 exchange operators by volume with a presence in Singapore but no local license — plan to reorganize their teams, according to people familiar with the matter. Bitget will shift staff to jurisdictions including Dubai and Hong Kong, while Bybit is weighing similar moves, said the people, who refused to be identified as the plans are confidential.

Singapore is among Asia’s foremost crypto hubs and a regional base for major global players such as Coinbase and Crypto.com. But it still bears the scars of a string of local blow-ups from the last industry downturn in 2022. Even as it doles out licenses, authorities in the city-state have warned consumers against trading cryptocurrencies and restricted related advertisements.