Singapore

• REIT Watch – S-Reits continue to expand through DPU-accretive acquisitions Nevertheless, S-Reits are still expanding their portfolios as we see Reit managers announce proposed acquisitions and developments in the year thus far.
• MLT announced the proposed acquisitions of three logistics properties – one in Malaysia and two in Vietnam – for a total acquisition cost of about S$234 million.

• Raffles Medical executive chair continues acquisitions, CDL leads buyback consideration Institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions through to Mar 14, with S$156 million of net institutional outflow, as 24 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$35.3 million, up from the S$24.4 million in buyback consideration for the preceding five sessions.
• Between Mar 7 and 13, Raffles Medical Group executive chairman Loo Choon Yong acquired 2.7 million shares at an average price of S$1.02 per share.

• Even if you were an activist, or a trader with an activism tilt, be long Keisei Electric Railway Co (9009 JP) vs. Oriental Land (4661 JP).
• Reportedly, Singtel (ST SP) is negotiating a sale of Optus. Both Singtel and Optus scotch those rumours. 
• Alumina Ltd (AWC AU) and Alcoa (AA US) enter into a Scheme. As expected. The key question: is CITIC, with 18.9% of shares out, supportive?

• Reportedly (AFR), Singtel (ST SP) is in advanced talks to sell Optus, Australia’s second-largest telco, to Brookfield for A$16bn-A$18bn. 
• SingTel quickly countered there is no impending deal; and “Optus remains an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group and we are committed to Australia for the long term.”
• Optus’ EBITDA in 3Q24 and 9M24 fell 1.8% and 8.3% in S$ terms. Extrapolating out for FY24E suggests pricing under this (very) indicative Offer of around 7.6-8.6 turns of EBITDA.

• The STI March quarterly review will see Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) added to the STI effective the Monday 18 March open.
• FCT’s inclusion is expected to take the STI’s REIT Sector weight back to ~13% from ~12% at present, and the number of STI REITs back to seven, following Keppel DC REIT leaving the STI in June 2023.
• Impacting the outlook for financing costs, this has seen the six STI REITs average 9.4% declines in unit prices post the indicative 29 Dec 2023 STI weightages.

For our next Corporate Webinar, we are glad to welcome Centurion Corporation’s CEO, Mr Kong Chee Min. 

In the upcoming webinar, Chee Min will share a short company presentation after which, he will engage in a fireside chat with Smartkarma Insight Provider, Angus Mackintosh.

Angus will also be providing an industry overview, featuring landscape commentary and returns analysis. The Corporate Webinar will include a live Q&A session

In the spirit of giving back to our community, one of the attendees will also be awarded an Amazon Kindle as part of our exclusive lucky draw. 

The Corporate Webinar will be hosted on Thursday, 21 March 2024, 19:00 SGT.

About Centurion Corporation 

Centurion Corporation Limited (“Centurion” or the “Company” and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) owns, develops and manages quality, purpose-built workers accommodation assets in Singapore and Malaysia, and student accommodation assets in Australia, the United Kingdom (“UK”) and the United States (“US”). The Group owns and manages a strong portfolio of 34 operational accommodation assets totalling approximately 66,607 beds as of 30 September 2023. Centurion’s established portfolio of workers accommodation assets are managed under the “Westlite Accommodation” brand and comprises nine workers accommodation assets in Singapore as well as eight workers accommodation assets in Malaysia. The Group’s student accommodation assets are managed under the “Dwell” brand, with ten assets in the UK, five assets in US and two assets in Australia. With global reach and a clear growth strategy to actively enhance and manage its assets, identify strategic acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as develop customised accommodation management services, Centurion is well-positioned as a leading provider of quality, purpose-built accommodation.

• Back in December 2022, agri-food play Japfa Ltd (JAP SP) spun-off its 62.5% stake in AustAsia Group (2425 HK), as discussed in Japfa Ltd: Trading Cheap After AustAsia In-Specie Distribution 
• Last Friday, Bloomberg reported its key shareholder, Renaldo Santosa and his family, who collectively control ~75.5%, are considering taking Japfa private.
• The family acknowledges it has been approached by various financiers, investment banks, but nothing definitive has emerged. Still, Japfa is worth a revisit.

• More than 250 Singapore-listed stocks have booked net institutional inflow over the past 10 weeks.
• The most traded of the 16 stocks includes three STI stocks, in addition to incoming STI constituent Frasers Centrepoint Trust.
• Of the 250 stocks that booked net institutional inflow, 16 stocks also booked net retail inflow, with seven of these 16 stocks maintaining market average daily turnover of at least S$100,000 over the past 10 weeks.

• On March 8, Bloomberg reported that Japfa Ltd (JAP SP) owners were considering taking it private and started talks about a loan of around US$150 million. 
• Japfa has faced ongoing profitability issues since 2022 due to cost-of-living pressures. Privatisation interest is unsurprising, as the shares have been down 72% over the last three years. 
• An attractive premium would be required, irrespective of the offer structure. At a S$0.26 offer (20% premium to last close), Japfa would trade in line with peer multiples.  

• REIT Watch – Frasers Centrepoint Trust to join STI from Mar 18 At a market capitalisation of S$3.9 billion, FCT will join the STI with an approximate weight of 0.8 per cent.
• FCT is also the second Frasers Property-sponsored Reit to join the benchmark after Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust.
• The STI reserve list, which consists of the five highest ranking non-constituents of the STI, will be: CapitaLand Ascott Trust, ComfortDelGro, Keppel DC Reit, Keppel Reit, and Suntec Reit.

• Director filings and buybacks continue at stronger pace INSTITUTIONS were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five trading sessions through to Mar 7, with S$224 million of net institutional outflow, as 26 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$24.4 million, quadrupling the buyback consideration of the preceding five sessions.
• This increased his total interest from 53.27 per cent to 53.61 per cent.
• This followed his acquisition of 4.5 million shares between Feb 27 and 28.

• kopi-C with BRC Asia’s CEO: “We’ve become the leader in Singapore’s reinforcing steel fabrication industry’” After becoming one of Singapore’s largest reinforcing steel fabricators through an acquisition, BRC Asia plans to extend its reach to other markets.
• Incorporated in 1938, BRC Asia Limited (“BRC”) is a leading Pan-Asia prefabricated reinforcing steel solutions provider headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

• This is our first report on transportation and fintech platform provider, Grab Holdings Inc.
• The company had a pivotal year in 2023, delivering on key goals and achieving profitability in adjusted EBITDA since the third quarter and earning a positive net profit in the fourth quarter.
• The company experienced a series of enhancements, including a successful rebuild of their mobility business which had been vastly impacted by the pandemic.

• The FTSE ST Small Cap Index comprises multiple companies that represent the Industrials Sector, with the segment of stocks operating across APAC and averaging an 11% ROE.
• Samudera Shipping has led the segment of stocks with a 14% gain in the 2024 YTD, while also being the strongest performer of the segment over the past 5 years.
• The FTSE ST Small Cap Index currently includes seven companies that represent the Industrials Sector, with average daily trading turnover for each of the stocks ranging from S$60,000 a day, to S$3.0 million a day.

• Sea (SE US) has completed a full cycle of growth followed by a phase of profitability improvements/cost-cutting.
• Although substantial cost reductions have been implemented, these efforts have mainly focused on fixed costs.
• With marketing efficiency unchanged and significant improvements in gross margin difficult, the company appears no closer to achieving stable profitability than it initially was.

• Sea Ltd (SE US) released 4Q2023 and FY2023 results with a full-year net profit but another loss in 4Q but QoQ improvements for e-commerce and digital financial services. 
• E-Commerce core market growth rates where impressive, with strong growth momentum with Brazil seeing large profitability gains, whilst overall Shopee is gaining share with the additional benefits from greater scale.  
• Digital Financial Services saw a significant uptick in its loan book and profitability, whilst management pointed toward 2H2024 profitability for Shopee. Management is pointing towards 2024 being another profitable year. 

• Despite margin pressure, Sheng Siong (SSG SP) delivered resilient earnings for FY23. Revenue was up 2.3% YoY, and profits were up 0.3% YoY. 
• The company guided it had opened two additional stores at the start of 2024 (2023 end: 69), and six more locations were up for tender in 2024. 
• The stock trades at 17x FY23, with a 4% dividend yield and 15% of the market cap in cash. Margin pressure due to inflation will be a headwind in FY24. 

• Director filings and buyback momentum return Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engg) led the buyback consideration tally, repurchasing 500,000 shares at an average price of S$3.97 each on Feb 29.
• On Feb 26, LHT Holdings managing director Yap Mui Kee acquired 61,000 shares at an average price of S$1.05 per share.