Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Tuesday. STI rose 0.2%; ASL Marine and Thakral rose 6%; SingPost and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 1%; DBS rose 0.9%; Sembcorp Industries rose 0.7%.

Stocks in Focus

CapitaLand Ascendas Reit (Clar): The manager of Clar on Tuesday announced the proposed acquisition of three Singapore properties from Vita Partners for a total consideration of about S$565.8 million. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026. The properties are fully occupied by tenants in the technology, logistics and life sciences industries, with a weighted average lease expiry of 5.5 years and built-in rental escalations, said William Tay, the executive director and chief executive officer of the manager. Units of Clar ended Monday flat at S$2.85.

Thakral: The company will get S$13.1 million from the partial sale of its shares in The Beauty Tech Group, its UK-based investee company due to list on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The group said on Monday that the divestment proceeds will strengthen its financial position and enhance its liquidity. It plans to redeploy capital to opportunities that enhance earnings and long-term growth. Thakral shares ended on Monday at S$1.61, down 0.6 per cent.

ASL Marine: The group on Monday entered into a placement agreement with SAC Capital to offer up to 41.1 million fully paid-up ordinary shares at a price of S$0.1703 apiece. This amounts to an aggregate consideration of up to S$7 million. ASL Marine intends to use 100 per cent of the net proceeds to fund capital expenditure and business expansion plans. The counter ended Monday flat at S$0.188, before the news.

Del Monte Pacific: The canned food brand is mulling a share placement that could raise between US$500 million and US$600 million as it aims to reduce debt and address a capital deficit. This comes as the bankruptcy of its US business has hit it with nearly US$800 million in losses. The group, which has dual listings on the Singapore Exchange and Philippine Stock Exchange, is considering an equity raise via a private placement at its unit, Del Monte Philippines Inc. Del Monte’s Singapore-listed shares ended Monday flat at S$0.092.

Trading halt: Healthbank Holdings called for a trading halt on Tuesday morning pending the release of an announcement, after its shares closed Monday flat at S$0.029.

Aspial requested a trading halt on Tuesday morning pending the release of an announcement, as its shares finished Monday flat at S$0.103.

AF Global called for trading of its shares to be halted on Tuesday morning pending the release of an announcement, as the counter ended Monday unchanged at S$0.096.

SG Local News

Companies Keener to Shift Production to Asean Amid US Tariffs: PM Wong Tells ABC News

Companies have shown growing interest to shift more production into South-east Asia amid US tariffs, even as uncertainty lingers, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in an interview on Australia’s ABC News on Monday (Oct 6).

As Asean works to become “a more attractive single market”, there will be projects where Australia can participate in, he said ahead of his official visit there this week.

A rewiring of supply chains towards the region had begun even before US President Donald Trump’s first tariffs in April, he noted, as many companies pursued “China plus one” diversification with factories in countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

AI Adoption Fuels Growth of Singapore’s Digital Economy, Growing to 18.6% of 2024 GDP

Singapore’s digital economy accounted for 18.6 per cent, or S$128.1 billion, of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, up from 18 per cent in 2023, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a report released on Monday (Oct 6).

Growth was clocked in all sectors of the digital economy, with the non-information and communication sectors contributing more than two-thirds.

Finance and insurance remained the largest contributor outside of information and communication, followed by wholesale trade and manufacturing.

PM Lawrence Wong Extends Condolences to Families Affected by Optus Outages in Australia

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has expressed his condolences for the deaths of four people linked to network outages of Australian telco Optus, which is owned by Singtel. 

“First of all, I can fully understand the anger, frustration and outrage by what happened,” Mr Wong said in an interview with Australian broadcaster ABC released on Monday (Oct 6). 

“And I would like to extend my condolences to everyone who has been impacted by the outage, especially the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives.”