Month: December 2021

Lifetime Membership In my last article on Singtel share price, I wrote that this counter has bottomed out. Yet, following that article, Singtel share price plunged 8.5%, falling from $2.58 to a low of $2.36 on 30 November. Apparently, Omicron variant has emerged out of nowhere to cause the train-wreck of Singtel share price.

Singtel’s sprawling telco businesses are prone to the impact of the pandemic as a significant portion of the Group’s revenue is derived from roaming revenue from tourists. Hence, a protracted pandemic crisis could possibly shake confidence in Singtel share price. Nevertheless, as we entered December, Singtel share price stabilized to $2.40 level as the market digested emerging data on Omicron variant, which is deemed to be highly contagious but less likely to cause severe illnesses among patients.

For the past two years, I reckon many Singtel investors did not have a good sleep as COVID-19 has caused plenty of uncertainties for Singtel share price. But that’s not all. On 17 December, another bombshell awaited investors. The Group announced that its subsidiary, Singapore Telecom Australia Investments Pty Ltd (“STAI”), has received an unfavorable judgment from the Federal Court of Australia over the acquisition financing of Singtel Optus Pty Limited in 2001.

Lifetime Membership What a roller-coaster ride for investors! This year’s November was one of the most terrifying months in recent years for DBS Bank as it endured market’s reaction to a subpar 9MFY2021 financial result and suffered one of the worst service disruptions in the past decade. Adding the emergence of Omicron variant, we have the perfect storm for DBS share price. But as we approach 2022, DBS share price is poised for an explosive bull run that could see the counter smashing the pivotal $50 mark.

Year-to-date, DBS share price surged 28%. In fact, the majestic run of DBS share price saw the counter hitting a record high of $32.60 on 8 November. However, the wheels came off the wagon after the bank reported a disappointing 9MFY2021 financial result that saw net income interest falling 9% year-on-year. The following Monday (8 November), DBS share price turned bearish.

Suffice to say, the much-publicised outage of DBS online services further dented investors’ confidence on DBS share price. And then Omicron variant arrived to cause DBS share price to plunge to a low of $30 on 30 November. Looking at the data extracted from SGX, it is evident that the massive correction of DBS share price was largely due to short-selling activities.

Lifetime Membership And then, there are left with four of them. With the delisting of Jardine Strategic from SGX in April 2021, the four affiliated members of the Jardine Matheson group remains in Straits Times Index (STI) – HongKong Land, Dairy Farm, Jardine Matheson Holdings and Jardine C&C. These four “Hong Kong Heavenly Kings” had dominated STI for years and are all part of the Jardine Matheson Group. Recently, a Lifetime Member has requested me to do a research on Jardine C&C share price, which I will gladly do so in this article.

Previously, I had written an article on HongKong Land. For many Singaporeans, Cycle and Carriage needs no introduction. The company is the authorized dealer for automotive brands like Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Kia and etc. Their business includes automotive distribution, retail and aftermarket services, spanning across Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar. Cycle and Carriage is one of the Direct Motor businesses under Jardine C&C portfolio. However, in analysing Jardine C&C share price, it is important to note the other key businesses of the Group. Take note that Direct Motor contributed to just 30% of Jardine C&C’s underlying profits in 2020.

Although Jardine C&C is listed in SGX and has presence in Singapore through its automotive business, analysing Jardine C&C share price is not so straightforward.

Lifetime Membership Being the largest vehicle inspection and testing provider in Singapore, Vicom needs no introduction. In 2019, Vicom share price had been in a splendid form, surging from $6 in January 2019 to cap a high of $7.70 at end of 2019. In June 2020, the completion of the 1-to-4 stock split saw the counter trading at about $8.50 (in terms of pre-stock split level) at end of 2020.

In 2021, Vicom share price continued its fine form till May 2021. Since then, the counter fell to the current $2.05 bandwidth (which is about $8.20 in terms of pre-stock split level). The sudden loss of form of Vicom share price caught some investors by surprise. Is this the end of the road for Vicom share price? A long-time SG Wealth Builder Lifetime Member is concerned about the loss of form for Vicom share price and requested my insight.

Vicom’s vehicle inspection and testing services are essential services. Thus, this business segment should be immune to the impact of the pandemic. Amid the pandemic, the Group even increased its market share in the vehicle testing business from 74% in 2019 to 75.2% in 2020. In view of this, investors must be wondering what could be the underlying causes for the mystery slump of Vicom share price in 2021.

Lifetime Membership Will it be 3^rd time lucky for OCBC Bank? The venerable bank tried to privatise Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) unsuccessfully in 2004 and 2006. In the 2006 attempt, OCBC Bank managed to raised its stake in Great Eastern to 87.1%. Since then, OCBC Bank has steadily increased its stake to 87.91% as at 31 March 2021. If a privatisation does materialise, what would be the impact on OCBC share price (SGX: O39)?

Under SGX Rule 723 of the Listing Manual, listed companies must ensure that at least 10% of their issued shares must be held by the public. As OCBC currently holds about 12% of Great Eastern, the bank would just need to acquire only 2% more of Great Eastern shares in order to trigger the mandatory delisting requirement. The impetus for the acquisition should be the ailing OCBC share price.

Year-to-date, OCBC share price has increased by a mere 12.9%. In contrast, DBS share price has surged by a whopping 26.7% year-to-date. Notably, the explosive surge in DBS share price came after its acquisition of 13% stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank in April 2021 and India’s Lakshmi Vilas Bank in November 2020. The acquisitions signalled the growth initiatives of DBS and helped to diversify revenue sources.

Lifetime Membership What a roller coaster ride for SIA investors! From a high of $5.55 on 15 October, SIA share price languished to $5.00 following the torpedo from Omicron variant. Due to the countless twists and turns of the pandemic saga, analyzing the outlook of SIA share price is always a tricky business. Prior to the arrival of Omicron, SIA share price was in bullish form due to the launch of a slew of Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) with countries in US and Europe. And then Omicron emerged out of nowhere to wretch the form of SIA share price. Should investors run for their lives?

When news of Omicron broke, SIA share price took a hit as the market initially did not have a sense of how deadly or contagious this variant is. The fear then was that Omicron could lead to another wave of crippling lockdowns and borders’ restrictions among countries. The knee jerk reactions could be forgiven due to the lack of data. But recent release by health authorities suggested that this variant may not be as deadly as the Delta variant. In addition to that, Pfizer has claimed that three shots of its vaccines could neutralize Omicron variant based on laboratory tests.

Lifetime Membership As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts many boats. The much-anticipated interest rate hikes in 2022 are expected to set fire on local bank stocks, including UOB share price. Despite the buoyant outlook, UOB share price has not reached the record level of $30 last seen in May 2018. This is unlike its peer, DBS share price, which has raced past the $30 mark in July 2021. If UOB share price had matched the form of DBS share price, UOB would have become Singapore’s second largest bank (in terms of market capitalization).

The last time that I covered UOB share price was on 15 May 2020. That was one of the darkest chapters for UOB share price as the global stock markets were reeling from the onset of the pandemic. In Singapore, there were plenty of uncertainties due to the implementation of Circuit Breaker measures. Subsequently, UOB share price staged a U-shaped recovery as the unprecedented three Budget stimulus packages worked their magic.

The announcement of COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020 had sparked off a rally for UOB share price. Investors were given hope that the vaccine will spell the end of the terrible pandemic. As we entered 2021, we have not seen the light at end of tunnel due to the emergence of variants, the latest being Omicron.

Lifetime Membership Will AEM share price become the next fairytale of SGX? Following the release of the 3^rd quarter business update, AEM share price (SGX: AWX) has been in rocket form in recent weeks. The bullish form of AEM share price sent the counter to a record high of $5.22 on 30 November. Based on the current run of AEM share price, there is a good chance that the stock could knock iFAST off the perch to become the best performing SGX stock of the year.

Despite the positive business outlook, AEM share price has been rocked by the recent market turmoil caused by the Omicron variant. Amid the market chaos, AEM filed an SGX disclosure that Temasek Holdings purchased 443,700 shares from the market on 25 November. Although the shares were bought before the Omicron variant news, it provided much stabilizing support for AEM share price.

My vision for AEM share price is that it would become a $10 stock in SGX Mainboard. Having a conviction is important in stock investing as it can provide a calming effect when the share price movements are not in your favor. Obviously, the current AEM share price is still some way off my target level but my conviction is not based on blind faith.