SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Equity Bottom-Up

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In September, 20 SGX primary-listed stocks bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$134 million, up from 25 stocks filing S$96 million in consideration in August. This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020. 
	 </li>
	<li>
OCBC, UOB and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90% of the September consideration tally. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks. 
	 </li>
	<li>
The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%.    
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 During September, 20 primary-listed stocks on SGX bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$133.9 million. This brings the total consideration filed by the primary-listed stocks to S$609 million for the first nine months of 2021, which represents 0.07% of the S$887.9 billion total market value of all stocks listed on SGX.

This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020, which was on the back of S$142.1 million in buyback consideration filed by Wilmar International. September’s consideration compared to 25 primary-listed stocks on SGX buying back their shares in August 2021 with a total consideration of S$96.3 million (click <a href="https://www.sgx.com/research-education/market-updates/20210902-monthly-buybacks-reach-eight-month-high-august">here</a> for more) and 24 SGX primary-listed stocks buying back shares for a total consideration of S$43 million in September 2020 (click <a href="https://www.sgx.com/research-education/market-updates/20201001-share-buyback-consideration-reaches-6m-high-september">here</a> for more). 

The 1.0% STI gain in September brought its total return over the past nine months to 11.6%. The combined AUM of the SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF ended September 2021 at S$2.24 billion, compared to S$2.08 billion at the end of December 2020, with the unit creations and redemptions generating S$14 million of net outflows into the two ETFs over the past nine months.
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 <div class='content-caption'>Buyback Consideration</div>
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Source: SGX (Data as of 30 September 2021)

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, United Overseas Bank and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90 per cent of the September consideration tally. The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%. On 20 May, the company <a href="https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/V6D3L8R7Q6M393FA/59b33770ce00a2a9b0578b8dbd64999374d61a5e121d9a7b8bfeb17bf0330846">reported</a> 9% YoY net profit growth for its FY21 (ending 31 March) and is expected to report is 1HFY22 results in early November. The Hour Glass is one of the world's leading specialist watch retailers with an established presence of over 47 boutiques in twelve key cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks.

The table below summarises the buyback transactions of the 20 primary-listed stocks stocks that conducted buybacks in September. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions.

<table class="table table-striped"><tbody>
<tr>
<td>
			Primary Listed Stocks that Conducted Buybacks in Sep 2021
			</td>
			<td>
			Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate
			</td>
			<td>
			Total Number of Shares/units Purchased in Sep 2021
			</td>
			<td>
			Total Buyback Consideration  (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares
			</td>
			<td>
			Average Price Paid 
			</td>
			<td>
			Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date
			</td>
			<td>
			Pct of Outstanding Shares (Excl. Treas) purchased in Mandate to date
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			223,511,333
			</td>
			<td>
			7,017,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$81,366,954
			</td>
			<td>
			$11.60
			</td>
			<td>
			19,280,100
			</td>
			<td>
			0.43
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			UNITED OVERSEAS BANK
			</td>
			<td>
			83,744,151
			</td>
			<td>
			1,514,500
			</td>
			<td>
			$38,843,081
			</td>
			<td>
			$25.65
			</td>
			<td>
			2,018,500
			</td>
			<td>
			0.12
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			THE HOUR GLASS
			</td>
			<td>
			69,664,318
			</td>
			<td>
			2,757,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$4,262,142
			</td>
			<td>
			$1.55
			</td>
			<td>
			7,697,300
			</td>
			<td>
			1.10
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			OUE
			</td>
			<td>
			87,879,966
			</td>
			<td>
			2,302,300
			</td>
			<td>
			$3,249,773
			</td>
			<td>
			$1.41
			</td>
			<td>
			5,882,600
			</td>
			<td>
			0.67
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			G. K. GOH HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			32,481,013
			</td>
			<td>
			1,657,900
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,862,712
			</td>
			<td>
			$1.12
			</td>
			<td>
			2,267,200
			</td>
			<td>
			0.70
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			GLOBAL INVESTMENTS
			</td>
			<td>
			159,744,243
			</td>
			<td>
			10,868,900
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,698,727
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.16
			</td>
			<td>
			33,335,500
			</td>
			<td>
			2.09
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			BOUSTEAD SINGAPORE
			</td>
			<td>
			48,403,012
			</td>
			<td>
			670,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$650,953
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.97
			</td>
			<td>
			872,400
			</td>
			<td>
			0.18
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			AEM HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			28,088,477
			</td>
			<td>
			148,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$600,939
			</td>
			<td>
			$4.06
			</td>
			<td>
			843,000
			</td>
			<td>
			0.30
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			FOOD EMPIRE HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			53,774,969
			</td>
			<td>
			720,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$557,666
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.77
			</td>
			<td>
			1,686,200
			</td>
			<td>
			0.31
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			CNMC GOLDMINE HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			40,769,300
			</td>
			<td>
			1,213,100
			</td>
			<td>
			$238,046
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.20
			</td>
			<td>
			1,590,100
			</td>
			<td>
			0.39
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			EUROSPORTS GLOBAL
			</td>
			<td>
			25,944,480
			</td>
			<td>
			951,800
			</td>
			<td>
			$189,650
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.20
			</td>
			<td>
			1,142,700
			</td>
			<td>
			0.44
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			HOTUNG INVESTMENT HLDGS LTD
			</td>
			<td>
			9,595,108
			</td>
			<td>
			60,600
			</td>
			<td>
			$117,337
			</td>
			<td>
			$1.94
			</td>
			<td>
			426,900
			</td>
			<td>
			0.45
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SINGAPORE SHIPPING CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			39,889,089
			</td>
			<td>
			337,300
			</td>
			<td>
			$95,148
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.28
			</td>
			<td>
			1,365,200
			</td>
			<td>
			0.34
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			ANNAIK
			</td>
			<td>
			28,853,087
			</td>
			<td>
			1,113,500
			</td>
			<td>
			$82,735
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.07
			</td>
			<td>
			1,331,600
			</td>
			<td>
			0.46
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			TUAN SING HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			118,736,488
			</td>
			<td>
			105,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$51,540
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.49
			</td>
			<td>
			354,000
			</td>
			<td>
			0.03
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SUTL ENTERPRISE
			</td>
			<td>
			8,556,020
			</td>
			<td>
			41,400
			</td>
			<td>
			$24,691
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.60
			</td>
			<td>
			121,800
			</td>
			<td>
			0.14
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			GOODLAND GROUP
			</td>
			<td>
			36,001,992
			</td>
			<td>
			100,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$13,920
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.14
			</td>
			<td>
			100,000
			</td>
			<td>
			0.00
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			MDR
			</td>
			<td>
			88,288,167
			</td>
			<td>
			142,400
			</td>
			<td>
			$10,932
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.08
			</td>
			<td>
			3,445,300
			</td>
			<td>
			0.39
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			CHOO CHIANG HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			20,785,240
			</td>
			<td>
			20,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$5,029
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.25
			</td>
			<td>
			257,600
			</td>
			<td>
			0.12
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			ST GROUP FOOD INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			24,247,700
			</td>
			<td>
			10,900
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,128
			</td>
			<td>
			$0.10
			</td>
			<td>
			10,900
			</td>
			<td>
			0.00
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			Total
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
			<td>
			31,751,600
			</td>
			<td>
			$133,923,103
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
		</tr>
</tbody></table>
Source: SGX, Bloomberg (Data as of 1 October 2021)

Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they can be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Motivations for share buybacks can include employee compensation plans (such as share option schemes or employee share purchase plans) or long term capital management. Buybacks have been observed to also pick up amidst market declines that are driven by broader moves on international macroeconomic developments. 
Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market (click <a href="https://www.sgx.com/securities/company-announcements?ANNC=ANNC13">here</a>). As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the two weeks immediately before semi-annual financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.
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In September, 20 SGX primary-listed stocks bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$134 million, up from 25 stocks filing S$96 million in consideration in August. This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020. 
	 
	
OCBC, UOB and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90% of the September consideration tally. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks. 
	 
	
The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%.    


 During September, 20 primary-listed stocks on SGX bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$133.9 million. This brings the total consideration filed by the primary-listed stocks to S$609 million for the first nine months of 2021, which represents 0.07% of the S$887.9 billion total market value of all stocks listed on SGX.

This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020, which was on the back of S$142.1 million in buyback consideration filed by Wilmar International. September’s consideration compared to 25 primary-listed stocks on SGX buying back their shares in August 2021 with a total consideration of S$96.3 million (click here for more) and 24 SGX primary-listed stocks buying back shares for a total consideration of S$43 million in September 2020 (click here for more). 

The 1.0% STI gain in September brought its total return over the past nine months to 11.6%. The combined AUM of the SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF ended September 2021 at S$2.24 billion, compared to S$2.08 billion at the end of December 2020, with the unit creations and redemptions generating S$14 million of net outflows into the two ETFs over the past nine months.



      
    
    Buyback Consideration


Source: SGX (Data as of 30 September 2021)

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, United Overseas Bank and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90 per cent of the September consideration tally. The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%. On 20 May, the company reported 9% YoY net profit growth for its FY21 (ending 31 March) and is expected to report is 1HFY22 results in early November. The Hour Glass is one of the world's leading specialist watch retailers with an established presence of over 47 boutiques in twelve key cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks.

The table below summarises the buyback transactions of the 20 primary-listed stocks stocks that conducted buybacks in September. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions.




			Primary Listed Stocks that Conducted Buybacks in Sep 2021
			
			
			Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate
			
			
			Total Number of Shares/units Purchased in Sep 2021
			
			
			Total Buyback Consideration  (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares
			
			
			Average Price Paid 
			
			
			Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date
			
			
			Pct of Outstanding Shares (Excl. Treas) purchased in Mandate to date
			
		


			OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION
			
			
			223,511,333
			
			
			7,017,000
			
			
			$81,366,954
			
			
			$11.60
			
			
			19,280,100
			
			
			0.43
			
		


			UNITED OVERSEAS BANK
			
			
			83,744,151
			
			
			1,514,500
			
			
			$38,843,081
			
			
			$25.65
			
			
			2,018,500
			
			
			0.12
			
		


			THE HOUR GLASS
			
			
			69,664,318
			
			
			2,757,000
			
			
			$4,262,142
			
			
			$1.55
			
			
			7,697,300
			
			
			1.10
			
		


			OUE
			
			
			87,879,966
			
			
			2,302,300
			
			
			$3,249,773
			
			
			$1.41
			
			
			5,882,600
			
			
			0.67
			
		


			G. K. GOH HOLDINGS
			
			
			32,481,013
			
			
			1,657,900
			
			
			$1,862,712
			
			
			$1.12
			
			
			2,267,200
			
			
			0.70
			
		


			GLOBAL INVESTMENTS
			
			
			159,744,243
			
			
			10,868,900
			
			
			$1,698,727
			
			
			$0.16
			
			
			33,335,500
			
			
			2.09
			
		


			BOUSTEAD SINGAPORE
			
			
			48,403,012
			
			
			670,000
			
			
			$650,953
			
			
			$0.97
			
			
			872,400
			
			
			0.18
			
		


			AEM HOLDINGS
			
			
			28,088,477
			
			
			148,000
			
			
			$600,939
			
			
			$4.06
			
			
			843,000
			
			
			0.30
			
		


			FOOD EMPIRE HOLDINGS
			
			
			53,774,969
			
			
			720,000
			
			
			$557,666
			
			
			$0.77
			
			
			1,686,200
			
			
			0.31
			
		


			CNMC GOLDMINE HOLDINGS
			
			
			40,769,300
			
			
			1,213,100
			
			
			$238,046
			
			
			$0.20
			
			
			1,590,100
			
			
			0.39
			
		


			EUROSPORTS GLOBAL
			
			
			25,944,480
			
			
			951,800
			
			
			$189,650
			
			
			$0.20
			
			
			1,142,700
			
			
			0.44
			
		


			HOTUNG INVESTMENT HLDGS LTD
			
			
			9,595,108
			
			
			60,600
			
			
			$117,337
			
			
			$1.94
			
			
			426,900
			
			
			0.45
			
		


			SINGAPORE SHIPPING CORPORATION
			
			
			39,889,089
			
			
			337,300
			
			
			$95,148
			
			
			$0.28
			
			
			1,365,200
			
			
			0.34
			
		


			ANNAIK
			
			
			28,853,087
			
			
			1,113,500
			
			
			$82,735
			
			
			$0.07
			
			
			1,331,600
			
			
			0.46
			
		


			TUAN SING HOLDINGS
			
			
			118,736,488
			
			
			105,000
			
			
			$51,540
			
			
			$0.49
			
			
			354,000
			
			
			0.03
			
		


			SUTL ENTERPRISE
			
			
			8,556,020
			
			
			41,400
			
			
			$24,691
			
			
			$0.60
			
			
			121,800
			
			
			0.14
			
		


			GOODLAND GROUP
			
			
			36,001,992
			
			
			100,000
			
			
			$13,920
			
			
			$0.14
			
			
			100,000
			
			
			0.00
			
		


			MDR
			
			
			88,288,167
			
			
			142,400
			
			
			$10,932
			
			
			$0.08
			
			
			3,445,300
			
			
			0.39
			
		


			CHOO CHIANG HOLDINGS
			
			
			20,785,240
			
			
			20,000
			
			
			$5,029
			
			
			$0.25
			
			
			257,600
			
			
			0.12
			
		


			ST GROUP FOOD INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS
			
			
			24,247,700
			
			
			10,900
			
			
			$1,128
			
			
			$0.10
			
			
			10,900
			
			
			0.00
			
		


			Total
			
			
			 
			
			
			31,751,600
			
			
			$133,923,103
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
		

Source: SGX, Bloomberg (Data as of 1 October 2021)

Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they can be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Motivations for share buybacks can include employee compensation plans (such as share option schemes or employee share purchase plans) or long term capital management. Buybacks have been observed to also pick up amidst market declines that are driven by broader moves on international macroeconomic developments.  
Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market (click here). As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the two weeks immediately before semi-annual financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.



Monthly Buybacks Reach 10 Month High in September 