Institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions to Aug 1, with S$115 million of net institutional outflow, following the similar pace of S$95 million of net outflow for the preceding five sessions to Jul 26.

The five sessions to Aug 1 also saw 11 primary-listed companies conduct buybacks with a total consideration of S$6.4 million.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) led the buyback consideration tally for the five sessions, acquiring 500,000 shares at an average price of S$6.26 per share. This was the first buyback conducted on the current buyback mandate, after the previous mandate saw one million shares acquired between Mar 8 and Apr 15.

The company noted that for those one million shares, the highest and lowest price paid was S$6.44 and S$6.35 per share, respectively, and the total consideration paid for all purchases was S$6,405,469, excluding fees and taxes.

Prior to these acquisitions, SIA had last bought back its shares on the open market in September 2016. SIA's management maintains that it is committed to enhancing shareholder value, with share buybacks being one of the strategic methods employed. Additionally, the share repurchase programme is in place to efficiently manage and mitigate any potential dilution effects related to employee share schemes.

Digital Core REIT Management also acquired units of Digital Core Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) over each of the five sessions.

Leading the net institutional outflow over the five sessions were SIA, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings), DBS, Keppel, UOB, Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), Frencken Group, City Developments Ltd, Raffles Medical Group and Hongkong Land Holdings.

Meanwhile, Singtel, Singapore Exchange, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, Keppel DC REIT, Seatrium, Venture Corp, Suntec REIT, Wilmar International and Jardine Cycle & Carriage led the net institutional inflow.

Singtel also booked the most net institutional inflow in the 2024 year to Aug 1, followed by UOB, OCBC, ST Engineering and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.

The five trading sessions saw 70 director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for close to 40 primary-listed stocks. Directors or chief executive officers filed nine acquisitions and no disposals, while substantial shareholders filed four acquisitions and three disposals.

Mapletree Logistics Trust

On Jul 30, MLT Management non-executive chairman and director Lee Chong Kwee acquired 134,000 units of the REIT at S$1.31 per unit. This increased his direct interest in MLT to 200,000 units.

Lee holds a position on the board of directors at Mapletree Investments, serves as the chairman of its transaction review committee, and is a member of its executive resource and compensation committee. His past roles include being the Asia-Pacific CEO of Exel (Singapore), non-executive chairman of Jurong Port and corporate adviser to Temasek.

After MLT's financial results for the first quarter of FY2025 (ended Jun 30) were reported on Jul 24, its price-to-book ratio reverted to below one standard deviation of the 12-month mean.

For Q1 FY2025, the manager highlighted that MLT's proactive capital management and geographically diverse portfolio helped cushion the impact of higher borrowing costs, regional currency depreciation and China's economic challenges.

This saw MLT's Q1 FY2025 gross revenue marginally decrease by 0.3 per cent from the year before to S$181.7 million. Higher borrowing costs, which rose 9.4 per cent to S$38.5 million, and a lower divestment gain reduced distributable income to unitholders by 7.4 per cent from Q1 FY2024 to S$103.7 million.

The manager also highlighted that the quarter delivered a strong operational performance, with 95.7 per cent occupancy and 2.6 per cent positive rental reversions. MLT has continued to pursue portfolio rejuvenation, completing acquisitions in Malaysia and Vietnam, and announcing or finalising more than S$44 million in divestments across Malaysia, Singapore, and China during the quarter.

As at Jun 30, 2024, MLT's portfolio of logistics real estate and real estate-related assets comprised 188 properties in Singapore, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam, with assets under management of S$13.4 billion.

Lee also maintained in June that MLT would focus on advancing its portfolio rejuvenation strategy through accretive acquisitions, asset enhancements and selective divestments in FY2025.

On Jul 22, Ng Kiat stepped down as CEO and executive director of the manager of MLT and was succeeded by Jean Kam. Kam has significantly contributed to MLT's growth and portfolio strategy for 17 years, holding key positions such as general manager of Singapore, head of asset management and head of investment. Ng served as CEO of the manager for 12 years and has transferred to Mapletree Investments. During her tenure as CEO of the manager, MLT delivered unitholders an annualised total return of 8.6 per cent.

Raffles Medical Group

On Jul 31, Raffles Medical executive and non-independent director Sarah Lu acquired 250,000 shares of the group at an average price of S$0.95 per share. Acquired through S&D Holdings, this increased her deemed interest in the company from 3.38 per cent to 3.4 per cent.

Dr Lu was first appointed a director of Raffles Medical in February 2018, at which time she maintained a 3.24 per cent deemed interest in the company. Dr Lu is also the daughter of executive chairman and non-independent director Loo Choon Yong.

On Jul 29, Raffles Medical reported a revenue of S$365.7 million and net profit of S$30.6 million for the first half of FY2024 (ended Jun 30). These figures represent a 1.4 per cent decrease in revenue and a 48.8 per cent decrease in net profit compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, attributed to the phasing out of Covid-19 activities.

Baker Technology

Baker Technology (Baker Tech), with its subsidiaries, is a key player in marine offshore equipment and services, catering to oil, gas and renewable sectors. It specialises in designing, constructing and operating offshore units and vessels, as well as creating essential offshore equipment such as cranes, winches and wind-turbine gear. The group also provides engineering, project management and quality-supervision services.

In an industry outlook earlier in the year, Baker Tech chairman Wong Meng Yeng maintained that strong balance sheets are prompting oil companies to revisit their exploration and production investments, leading to significant capital plans.

He noted that Petronas, for example, had over 45 upstream projects and decommissioning plans in the pipeline. Wong maintained that the activity is expected to increase demand for offshore support, including rigs and vessels; and with a recent shortage of new builds, the group maintained that 2024 is poised for higher charter hire and vessel valuations.

On Jul 29, Baker Tech reported that its H1 FY2024 (ended Jun 30) revenue had increased by S$13 million, or 33 per cent, to S$52.4 million compared with the same period last year. This rise was primarily due to an uptick in charter revenue and spare parts sales, with higher vessel utilisation and contributions from third-party managed vessels.

Net profit saw a more significant increase to S$13 million in H1 FY2024 from S$1.5 million in the year-ago period, attributed to enhanced chartering activities aligning with the revenue increase, in addition to reduced administrative expenses, notably due to the absence of expected credit loss allowance.

The group also attributed higher foreign exchange gains to its net profit, as the US dollar strengthened against the Singapore dollar by about 3 per cent in H1 FY2024 compared with 1 per cent in the same period in the previous year. Profit attributable to shareholders stood at S$11.9 million for H1 FY2024, increasing from S$4.1 million from the year before.

For context, in FY2023 and FY2022, the net profit attributable to shareholders came to S$8.3 million and $13.4 million, respectively. The group's cash position stood at S$98.3 million as at Jun 30, up from S$87.5 million at the end of 2023, gradually increasing from S$28.9 million at the end of 2018.

Over the past 10 years, Baker Tech's executive director, Benety Chang, has gradually increased his total interest from 48.17 per cent to 55.85 per cent. Dr Chang has had a distinguished tenure at Baker Tech, serving as director and CEO since May 2000. He stepped down as CEO at the end of 2018, but has continued to serve as an executive director.

As a major shareholder, Dr Chang was re-elected as director in April 2023. Additionally, he holds the position of CEO and executive director at CHO, a subsidiary of Baker Tech. With a wealth of experience in the offshore oil and gas industry, Dr Chang was also a key founding shareholder and CEO of PPL Shipyard until July 2012.

Inside Insights is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.

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