Daily Brief Singapore: Atome Financial, SGX Baltic Capesize Time Charter Average (5 Routes) 180 Futures, NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) and more

Executive Summary

• Regional Omnichannel Credit Platform: Atome Financial (or “Atome”, comprising Atome and Kredit Pintar) operates a digital consumer finance ecosystem across four core Southeast Asian markets, transitioning from a pure-play buy-now-pay-later provider to a comprehensive lending platform. The company leverages proprietary artificial intelligence underwriting to serve underbanked demographics, recently processing over US$4.0b in gross merchandise volume for the 2025 financial year.
• Margin-Accretive Growth Trajectory: he investment thesis is anchored by the platform’s transition to sustainable unit economics, evidenced by reaching positive EBITDA and generating US$360.0m in operating income in FY2025 (+52% YoY). This profitability is supported by robust capital-raising capabilities, including a recent US$81.0m local-currency facility from Asia United Bank (July 2026) and a US$345.0m syndicated debt facility that provides the necessary liquidity to scale the capital-intensive consumer loan book.
• Regulatory Tightening and Competition: The company faces structural margin compression from well-capitalised regional super-apps that leverage captive e-commerce ecosystems to subsidise embedded credit offerings. Concurrently, the transition toward formalised consumer credit regimes across Southeast Asia imposes systemic compliance costs and restricts aggressive loan portfolio expansion.

• Capesize futures gained 87% in H1 2026, with June’s 35% reversal erased as Middle East tensions eased, before prices recovered in July.
• Chinese commodity demand remains a key support: YTD iron ore imports rose 6.4%, aluminium ores 18%, while longer Guinea- and Brazil-origin voyages tighten effective Capesize supply.
• Options positioning remains more bullish for Capesize: H1 put/call ratio was 0.38 versus 0.47 for Panamax, with August Capesize calls nearly three times puts and 40k a key upside strike

• NTT DC REIT, listed in July 2025, raised nearly S$1 billion, with a portfolio of six data centres totaling 91 megawatts.
• The REIT charges rent based on contracted power capacity, distributing 100% of its distributable income, with a projected yield close to 8%.
• Growth strategy includes rental reversions and acquiring stabilised assets from Sponsor’s 1.6 gigawatts operational pipeline, focusing on future-proofed assets.