In today’s briefing:
- Clearing up the FSS’s Sudden Call on Samsung Life’s Samsung Elec Stake Accounting Shift
- Philippines Exchange (PSE PM): IPO Pipeline to Cross 200 Bn (>142% YoY) Pesos For 2025
- Klarna IPO Valuation Update: $13B-$14B IPO Valuation Is Cheap Vs. Peers, ~68% Discount To Affirm
- Strategic Mergers, SPAC Opportunities, and Legal Battles: Current Active Portfolio Ideas
- GEM Exchanges –Scorecard Confirms Brazilian Exchange B3 (B3SA3 BZ) As Our Top Pick
- iFAST Chief Lim Chung Chun Ups Shareholding
- Somnia: Building for the Future of Onchain Applications
- REIT Watch – Retail S-REITs see lower cost of debt and positive rental reversions as retail sales improve
Clearing up the FSS’s Sudden Call on Samsung Life’s Samsung Elec Stake Accounting Shift
- Today’s FSS IFRS17 ruling is an accounting fix (equity vs. liability), not the Samsung Life Law, which is a regulatory cap on affiliate stakes based on market value.
- The FSS ruling signals Samsung Life doesn’t need to treat its Samsung Electronics stake as a forced-sale liability, lowering near-term sale risk.
- This eases the overhang, delays potential stake moves, and reinforces the relative underperformance setup on Samsung C&T highlighted in earlier posts.
Philippines Exchange (PSE PM): IPO Pipeline to Cross 200 Bn (>142% YoY) Pesos For 2025
- With Maynilad Water Services Inc.’s largest IPO in the Philippines, slated for October 2025, targeting up to ₱45.8 billion in total raise, PSE’s IPO pipeline will exceed ₱ 200 billion.
- It represents a substantial >142% YoY increase over 2024 (where IPO pipeline was ₱82.4 billion), with the majority of it back-end loaded (pipeline completed till Aug FY25 ₱70 billion)
- Trading at 15x FY25 PE, with 18% of the market cap in cash, a 6% dividend yield, and multiple growth levers in the future, this is a stock to explore.
Klarna IPO Valuation Update: $13B-$14B IPO Valuation Is Cheap Vs. Peers, ~68% Discount To Affirm
- Klarna Group plc, a first mover in the BNPL space and AI-powered fintech company, is targeting an IPO valuation of between $13B and $14B, according to Reuters.
- A Swedish founder-led decacorn is preparing for a roadshow after Labor Day this week. They intend to raise up to ~$1B and start trading in September.
- $13B-$14B IPO valuation is cheap vs. peers and implies ~68% discount to Affirm. Klarna’s last down round was a $800M venture round in July of 2022 at a ~$6.7B valuation.
Strategic Mergers, SPAC Opportunities, and Legal Battles: Current Active Portfolio Ideas
- Yorkville Acquisition (YORKU) and Renatus Tactical Acquisition (RTAC) are SPACs with ties to the current administration and crypto space.
- Mayne Pharma (MYX:AX) faces a legal battle with Cosette Pharmaceuticals over a merger, with a hearing set for September 22.
- Lifeway Foods (LWAY) is under pressure from activists for a sale to Danone, with a standstill agreement until September 15.
GEM Exchanges –Scorecard Confirms Brazilian Exchange B3 (B3SA3 BZ) As Our Top Pick
- We stick with Brazilian exchange B3 as our buy pick, as the scorecard indicates; data represents the highest share of total revenues versus peers and its post-trade revenues are understated
- We downgrade Hong Kong Exchange to a neutral from buy, after its strong share price performance YTD; we feel much growth potential is discounted at current valuations
- We downgrade BSE to a sell rating as it trades on rich fundamental valuations making it vulnerable to negative earnings surprises; its EBITDA margin no longer lags its peer group
iFAST Chief Lim Chung Chun Ups Shareholding
- Institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks with a S$33 million inflow, reversing a prior S$53 million outflow.
- United Overseas Bank led share buybacks with S$54.7 million total consideration, purchasing 500,000 shares at S$35.30 each.
- iFAST Corporation’s 1HFY25 profit before tax rose 32.7% to S$50.4 million, driven by iGB’s profitability.
Somnia: Building for the Future of Onchain Applications
- The report highlights how Somnia is addressing the long-standing challenges that have hindered blockchain gaming — from network congestion and unpredictable gas fees to poor user experience and security risks.
- While most blockchains struggle to support complex, consumer-grade apps, Somnia introduces an EVM-compatible network specifically optimized for gaming and other high-throughput use cases.
- By rethinking infrastructure at the base layer, Somnia enables scalability, predictable costs, and seamless UX, laying the foundation for richer onchain applications.
REIT Watch – Retail S-REITs see lower cost of debt and positive rental reversions as retail sales improve
- CICT’s DPU rose 3.5% to 5.62 cents, with leverage and debt costs reduced to 37.9% and 3.4%.
- FCT’s committed occupancy reached 99.9%, with tenant sales up 4.4% and leverage increased to 40.4%.
- Suntec REIT’s Gross Revenue and NPI grew 3.3% and 5.6%, with DPU increasing 3.7% to 3.155 cents.
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