SG Morning Highlights | UOB Q1 Profit Down 1.6% at S$1.49 Billion
Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's Singapore markets:
●Singapore shares opened lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.80%
●Private Home Rents Dip 1.3% in Q1, Steepest in Core Central Region
●Fixed Income and Equities Funds Remain Top Investment Choice for Singaporean Investors: Survey
●Stocks to watch: UOB, DBS, Olam
●Latest share buy back transactions
-moomoo News SG
Market Snapshot
Singapore shares opened lower on Wednesday. The $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index (.STI.SG)$ dropped 0.80 percent to 3273.65 as at 9:04 am.
Advancers / Decliners is 62 to 62, with 44.16 million securities worth S$97.01 million changing hands.
Breaking News
Private Home Rents Dip 1.3% in Q1, Steepest in Core Central Region
Private residential rents in Singapore slipped 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to data from Savills. The decline partially reverses the 4.8% YoY increase seen in the same period last year. The downtown core or the Core Central Region (CCR) saw the steepest decline in home rents, dropping 2.2% YoY last quarter, followed by the Rest of the Central Region which posted a 1.2% decline. The suburbs or Outside the Central Region also saw a dip of 0.8% YoY in Q1. By district, private homes in the Chinatown-Tanjong Pagar area or District 2 saw the average median rental plummet by 12.3% in the first quarter. Savills expects pressure in the rental housing market to ease for the rest of the year due to fewer project completions.
Fixed Income and Equities Funds Remain Top Investment Choice for Singaporean Investors: Survey
A new report by FleishmanHillard has found that Singaporean investors primarily invest in fixed-income and equities funds and are likely to continue investing in the same funds in the coming year. The study found that around half of Singaporean investors have traded or invested in fixed-income funds (56%) and equities funds (48%), while one in three invests in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Trailing behind are digital assets or cryptocurrency (34%), private equity funds (32%), balanced funds (30%), and alternatives (22%). The study also found that 41% of investors in Singapore consider the sluggish global economic growth to pose the biggest financial threat to their portfolios, prompting more investors to move their investments into lower-risk options. Investors were also highly interested in ETFs (29%) and crypto (28%) for future investments. Financial media and special media were their top two sources of information on funds and investment products, while the majority of investments use independent financial advisers and online platforms for fund patronage.
Stocks to Watch
$UOB (U11.SG)$: United Overseas Bank (UOB) has reported a net profit of S$1.49 billion for its first quarter ended March 31, 2024, down 1.6% from S$1.51 billion in the same period a year earlier. The earnings beat the mean estimate of S$1.43 billion from three analysts polled by LSEG. Excluding one-off expenses incurred in the acquisition of Citigroup's consumer banking businesses, the bank's net profit would have been 0.7% lower year-on-year at S$1.57 billion from S$1.58 billion. Net interest income for the quarter fell 2% to S$2.36 billion as net interest margin dropped to 2.02% from 2.14%. However, net fee income was up 5.1% to S$580 million from S$552 million, buoyed by a stronger showing in loan-related fees and the wealth segment.
$DBS Group Holdings (D05.SG)$: DBS CEO Piyush Gupta has gained $2.7 million after selling 75,000 of his shares in the bank, according to a filing on the Singapore Exchange. The transaction was carried out at $35.70 apiece on May 3. After the sale, Gupta still owns over 2.7 million of the bank's ordinary shares under a trust, accounting for 0.095% of the bank's shares. Gupta previously held close to 2.8 million shares before the sale. Gupta sold a day after saying that DBS' net profit for 2024 will likely exceed its record levels in 2023, given a strong first-quarter performance by the bank.
$Olam Group (VC2.SG)$: Olam Group has increased its offer to acquire all the shares in Namoi Cotton to 70 Australian cents per Namoi share, through its 64.57%-owned subsidiary, Olam Agri Holdings. The offer price now applies regardless of whether Olam obtains a relevant interest in at least 90% of shares in Namoi before the end of the offer period. The increased offer price of 70 Australian cents is higher than the increased takeover offer price of 67 Australian cents made by Louis Dreyfus Company Melbourne Holdings Pty Ltd on May 7. The rest of the offer conditions, including Olam obtaining a relevant interest of at least 50.1% of shares in Namoi, remain the same.
$Far East Orchard (O10.SG)$: Far East Orchard has reported earnings of $6.9 million for its 1QFY2024, up 46.8% YoY. Revenue in the same period ended March was up 10.4% YoY to $50.9 million. The company attributes the better numbers to growth from its purpose-built student accommodation business, as well as higher sales and leasing income from the Woods Square property development joint venture. Going forward, the company plans to adopt an active asset recycling strategy and aims to explore additional opportunities with capital partners such as Woh Hup. Far East Orchard shares closed May 7 at $1.02, unchanged for the day.
$ManulifeReit USD (BTOU.SG)$: Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (MUST) has posted a portfolio occupancy of 78.7% for the first quarter ended March, down from 84.4% as at end-2023. The drop was largely due to its major tenant TCW Group's lease expiry at Figueroa, its 35-storey office building in Los Angeles, which amounted to 189,000 square feet of space. MUST's manager said it had 1.4 million sq ft in its leasing pipeline and has achieved "good activity across various leasing stages". The REIT's portfolio weighted average lease expiry by net lettable area as at end-March was 4.3 years. MUST is in the midst of executing its recapitalisation plan to dispose of certain assets to pare down debt and fund capital expenditure.
Share Buy Back Transactions
Source: Business Times, SGinvestors.io, Business Review
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102356143 : Dun understand Q1 profit down 1.6% still can buy??