Stocks

It is a case of all hell broke loose. Comfort Delgro share price faces potential crisis as it plunged to a record low of $1.14 on 16 January 2023. What could have led to the gut-wrenching train wreck for Comfort Delgro share price? After all, we are only less than one month into 2023. The devastating meltdown of Comfort Delgro share price have prompted an SG Wealth Builder member to request for a write-up on this counter. Should investors sell everything and run for their lives?

Comfort Delgro is a transport company with a total fleet size of about 34,000 buses, taxis and rental vehicles. SBS Transit, a listed company, is a subsidiary. Vicom, another SGX-listed company, is another subsidiary. For the past decade, Comfort Delgro has spread its wings overseas, with operations in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Ireland and Malaysia.

Although Comfort Delgro is widely perceived as a taxi company, the Group traditionally derived its main bulk of the revenue from the public transport services (bus and rail). In this context, several major changes in the rail-hailing and public transport from 2018 to 2019 had impacted Comfort’s businesses. Among them is the New Rail Financing Framework.

How will Wilmar share price unravel in 2023? In my previous article, I wrote that Wilmar share price fell from the sky and lost its way in 2022 following a series of unfortunate events. The roller coaster form of Wilmar share price had left many investors befuddled. After all, the Group had been consistently churning out good financial results in recent years. In this article, I will share my insights on the outlook of Wilmar share price in 2023.

First thing first. I must clarify that Wilmar is one of my favourite SGX stocks, so my views may be biased. In 2020, I had invested in Wilmar and exited at a profit of $2,700 in early 2021. My lowest entry of Wilmar share price was $4.84 and I exited at $5.20. While I did not exit at the highest point of $5.60, I have no regrets selling my Wilmar stocks. In life, you can never sell at the highest point. Despite so, I would caution that due to the volatility of Wilmar share price, this stock is really not for the faint-hearted.

There are a few driving factors behind the volatility of Wilmar share price, and they are largely attributed to the core business in Indonesia – palm oil plantations.

Will iFAST share price enjoy another fairy-tale run in 2023? iFAST share price became stuff of legend in SGX Mainboard when the counter rocketed from $1.00 in 2020 to an incredible high of $10 in 2021. The meteoric rise of iFAST share price certainly created plenty of wealth for many iFAST investors.

For background, iFAST is an online platform company offering investment products to retail investors. At the same time, financial institutions and banks can distribute their investment products through iFAST’s platform. The supersonic boom of iFAST share price in recent years was due to iFAST winning the award of Hong Kong ePension scheme in early 2021.

Incidentally, iFAST share price was given a mighty booster shot by the pandemic due to the trading boom from 2020 to 2021. As many investors were working from home and unable to travel due to borders’ restrictions, there were plenty of opportunities for retail investors to capitalize on the market corrections during that period. As a result, iFAST’s Asset under Administration (AUA) rose from $14.45 billion in FY2020 to $19 billion in FY2021.

However, Man proposes, God disposes. The wheels came off the wagon for iFAST share price in 2022 as the series of interest rate hikes by US Federal Reserve and the Russia-Ukraine war combined to knock the wind out of global stock markets.

A new year, a new beginning! How will Keppel share price unravel in 2023? Time flies. It has been more than one and a half year since Keppel Corp entered into a non-binding MoU with Sembcorp Marine to combine Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM) and Sembcorp Marine. Under the deal, KOM will be merged with Sembcorp Marine. In addition, Keppel will receive shares in the listed entity and a cash consideration of up to $500 million. Given the protracted negotiations, investors must be feeling impatient. Will the deal go through or not?

During this period, the oil and gas sector has seen a remarkable recovery as crude oil price smashed past US$120 per barrel in March 2022 with the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war. While oil prices had cooled down since then, the demand for oil-rigs had been healthy in 2022. Against this backdrop, investors must be wondering if Keppel Corp should continue with the merger. Notwithstanding this, Keppel Corp investors had voted in favour of the 2 resolutions during the extraordinary meeting held on 8 December 2022 (99.96%).

Even though Keppel investors had voted overwhelmingly for the merger, it is not a done deal yet. In life, never say never.

As we approach the end of the year, it is time to review the performance of Singtel share price. Year-to-date, Singtel share price rose by 10.30%. Whilst the increase was decent, the stock should have performed even better, if not for the prevailing bearish market sentiments. In fact, the stock was actually on a bullish form in the earlier part of the year, surging from $2.30 in January 2022 to a high of $2.80 in May 2022. Then the series of US Fed interest rates came along to douse the bullish form of Singtel share price.

Indeed, the series of interest rate hikes had rattled global stock markets. Singtel share price was not spared from the turbulence. From May to October 2022, Singtel share price had been in bearish form in the aftermath of the interest rate hikes. Despite so, my observation is that $2.60 is the support level for Singtel share price. Each time this level is reached, Singtel share price will somehow rebound.

It seems that Singtel share price enjoyed the support from institutional investors. In 2022, the counter was often ranked in the monthly Top Ten Institutional Net Buy Lists except for the months of June, May, March and January (December result is not compiled yet).

Lifetime Membership As we approach the end of 2022, it is time to review the performance of Wilmar share price. From a decade high of $5.60 in February 2021, Wilmar share price fell from the sky and lost its way. Looking back, the explosive form of Wilmar share price was largely due to the listing of its subsidiary, Yihai Kerry Arawana (YKA). Nonetheless, that form did not last somehow as the counter collapsed to $4.15 toward the end of 2021. What has gone wrong for this leading light of Straits Times Index (STI)?

To add to the intrigue, the implosion of Ukraine-Russia war in early 2022 led to a commodity boom. The unfolding event saw Wilmar share price recovering its form as the stock rose to a high of $4.90 in March 2022. Then again, Man proposes, God disposes. The month of March 2022 coincided with US Federal Reserve launching a series of interest rate hikes. Consequently, all hell broke loose for Wilmar share price. The roller coaster form of Wilmar share price must be gut-wrenching for investors.

In 2020, I invested in Wilmar and exited at a profit of $2,700 in early 2021. My lowest entry of Wilmar share price was $4.84 and I exited at $5.20.

Lifetime Membership As we approach the end of the year, it is time to review the performance of Sembcorp Industries share price. In July 2022, I made a forecast that Sembcorp Industries share price would fly after the Group issued a profit guidance that the “financial results for 1H2022 is expected to be materially higher than 1H2021”. Indeed, Sembcorp Industries share price had a fine run, surging from $3.00 on 22 July to hit a high of $3.50 on 6 September.

Year-to-date, Sembcorp Industries share price increased by an incredible 61.2%, making the counter one of the best performers (if not the best) in Straits Times Index (STI). It seems that not even the market turbulence brought forth by the US interest rate hikes could disrupt the bullish form of Sembcorp Industries share price in 2022. Question now is whether Sembcorp Industries share price can carry on its fine form in 2023?

Admittedly, I am a big fan of Sembcorp Industries as it was my best investment. I had clocked in a profit of $17,500 after cashing out in December 2020. Back then, I had predicted that Sembcorp Industries share price would continue to perform well in 2021, which it did.

Lifetime Membership As we approach the end of the year, it is time to review the performance of OCBC share price. I had bought 6000 OCBC shares in August 2021 but exited when OCBC share price was trading at $12.40. The key reason for my exit was the unpredictability of OCBC share price.

When I invested in OCBC in August 2021, my thesis was that bank stocks should perform well in high inflationary environment as high interest rates generally lead to higher net interest incomes for the banks. Back then, I had anticipated that US Federal Reserves would hike interest rates in 2022 and that Singapore bank stocks would be the biggest beneficiary from the rate hikes. However, OCBC share price had not taken off as I have envisioned it to be. And I was humbled.

Year-to-date, OCBC share price has risen by only about 8.3%. While this is a really decent performance, it should be highlighted that US Federal Reserve has hiked four consecutive 75 basis point of interest rates. Against this context, OCBC share price should have increased by a higher margin but have flattered to deceive so far. What could be the key factors?

The problem with OCBC share price is that it is vulnerable to short selling activities.

Lifetime Membership Hurry! The train is leaving! SIA share price (SGX:C6L) looks set for a supersonic run after the Group posted a record $1.23 billion half-year operating profit. The blow-out result came on the back of a surge in travel demand as Singapore fully opened its borders to vaccinated travellers since April 2022. To put the icing on the cake, the Group declared its first dividend in three years.

For sure, Christmas certainly comes early for SIA investors. The turnaround for the national carrier had taken longer than expected due to the protracted pandemic. Those who had given up on SIA share price (SGX: C6L) could be forgiven as there had been so many twists and turns. Nonetheless, the latest financial result would put to rest any lingering doubts that this is another false dawn for SIA share price (SGX:C6L).

The explosive pent-up demand for air travel led to revenue for 1HFY2022/23 surging almost 200% to hit $8.4 billion while net profit reached $927 million. During the first half, revenue from passenger segment rose nearly 700% year-on-year to nearly $6 billion. Traffic was a staggering 11-fold higher, underscoring the phenomenon of revenge leisure travel.

SIA share price in wheel of fortunes

SIA share price in baptism of fire!

Lifetime Membership In August 2022, I wrote that Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) returned from coma as the counter surged to a high of $1.81. Yet that bullish run did not last as the unit price bombed out to a low of $1.42 on 21 October. Whilst Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) had managed to climb back to $1.60 in November, the trashy form of the unit price certainly left a bitter taste in investors’ mouth.

Year-to-date, Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) declined by about 13%. The sluggish unit price of Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) was attributed to the lack of buying by institutional investors. For nearly 11 months, Mapletree Logistics Trust did not feature in the SGX Top Ten Institutional Net Buy Stocks.

To be fair to the S-REIT, 2022 has been a difficult year for most stocks as global stock markets suffered endless shelling from the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. Many S-REITs and technology stocks had been razed to the ground as investors fled for their lives due to concerns that the soaring interest rates would hurt bottom-line for companies operating in these sectors.

For S-REITS, falling unit price poses a tricky challenge because most of them tend to conduct equity funding to raise capital for acquisitions.

What a swashbuckling return! From a low of $3.08 on 21 October, AEM share price stormed back in style to hit a high of $3.47 in recent days. The recovery of AEM share price came on the back of a stellar 3^rd quarter financial result. In this blog, I have always maintained that on its day, AEM share price can be unbeatable. Conversely, when the tide goes against AEM share price, the counter can spiral out of control. In view of this, this counter is not for the faint-hearted.

The recent rout of AEM share price was attributed to the troubles faced by its key customer – Intel. Consequently, various analysts came out slashing their targets for AEM share price. Intel is struggling to turn around its business as it incurred loss of US$500 million in 2^nd quarter.

While 3^rd quarter saw Intel recording US$1 billion profit, the result still paled in comparison to the US$6.8 billion profit recorded in Q3FY2021. As the US chipmaker tried to revive its business, it announced cost reductions of US$3 billion in FY2023. Being a key supplier of back-end test equipment for Intel, AEM may be affected if Intel chooses to defer its test equipment orders from AEM.

Lifetime Membership From a low of $32.40, DBS Group Holdings share price shook off the blues of Black October to smash to a six-month high of $34.20. The return of DBS Group Holdings share price came on the back of a stellar 3^rd quarter financial result that saw the bank recording a record $2.24 billion net profit. But before investors had the chance to pop the champagne, US Federal Reserve decided to gate-crash and spoil the party.

DBS’ latest financial result was released a day after the Fed unleashed the fourth interest rate hike of 75 basis points in this year. At the same time, the Fed also hinted of further interest rate hike ahead, albeit at smaller increase, in its bid to fight inflation. The latest move by the Fed sent global stock markets into another tailspin. In the process, DBS Group Holdings share price was rattled as well.

By right, banks should be the biggest beneficiaries from the interest rate hikes because of the increase in their net interest incomes. Yet the concern right now is whether the aggressive interest rate hikes could tip global economy into a long recession. In the face of a potential Singapore’s economic downturn, local banks will be the first in the line of fire.

Lifetime Membership From $4.14 on 7 October to the $3.10 mark at the point of writing, AEM share price (SGX: AWX) suffered a devastating meltdown of 25% within two weeks. The spellbinding collapse of AEM share price must have knocked the wind out of shell-shocked investors, sending shockwave to the local market.

To be frank, I am still processing what had happened to AEM share price. For the past two weeks, I have been asking myself if my investment thesis for AEM is still valid. As such, I am writing this article to pen down some of my thoughts. Hopefully, sanity will be restored for AEM share price in the coming weeks.

Troubles certainly came in troops for AEM share price. On 12 October, news reports surfaced that Intel is going to lay off workers amid steep decline for its core business – PC processors. The move by Intel to cut costs may be attributed to the upcoming third quarter financial result, which is likely to be dismal. If investors recall, Intel suffered a brutal US$500 million loss in the second quarter. The troubles faced by Intel rattled AEM share price as the latter derived the majority of its revenue from the US chip maker.

Lifetime Membership The featured company for this article is SATS Ltd. The last time that I covered the food solutions and gateway service provider was more than two years ago. Back then, the company was struggling to contain the fallout from the pandemic. Time files. In the blink of an eye, pandemic is quickly fading into distant memory as Singapore fully opens its borders. Recently, one of the members of SG Wealth Builder requested for my insights following the bizarre meltdown of SATS share price.

The recent collapse of SATS share price must have caught the attention of many investors as it came on the back of a strong recovery in travel demand. Like many aviation stocks such as SIA and SIAEC, SATS share price has recovered to about 80% of the pre-pandemic levels prior to the recent plunge. In fact, SATS share price had been in robust form as travel recovery led to an improvement in its business performance. And then out of nowhere, SATS share price suffered a devastating train-wreck.

On 28 September 2022, the market reacted violently to the announcement of the $1.755 billion acquisition of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) Global Holdings. Consequently, all hell broke loose for SATS share price as short-selling volume swelled to a high of 25 million in the final week of September.

Lifetime Membership In stock market, October has a psychological effect on investors as some of the worst market crashes happened in this month – the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987. If investors look back, Wall Street ripped the world apart with Dow Jones plunging by 832 points on 11 October 2018. Back then, Straits Times Index (STI) took the cue and fell by 84 points. Then in October 2020, Dow Jones collapsed by a whopping 2000 points. In this context, how will DBS Group Holdings share price unravel in October 2022?

Back in August 2022, I wrote that DBS Group Holdings share price could be in for a rough ride following the release of a set of new property cooling measures. True enough, the authorities did unleash a set of new cooling measures on 29 September 2022 to rein in the relentless rising property prices in Singapore.

In that article, I predicted that the loan-to-value (LTV) limit for bank loans would be lowered from 75% to 70%. Further, I was expecting the Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) to be raised yet again. It turned out that the LTV limit for HDB loans and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) were tightened instead.

Lifetime Membership This is my first article on ESR-LOGOS REIT (SGX: J91U) after the merger between ESR REIT and ALOG. Shares of the combined entities started trading from 5 May 2022 but the unit price had been dropping like flies. Year-to-date, the counter collapsed by a whopping 26%. With no end in sight, the falling unit price of ESR-LOGOS REIT is indeed disturbing for unitholders.

Unitholders from both ESR REIT and ALOG camps had been very supportive of the merger, with 98.4% of the former and 94.8% of the latter voting in favour of the merger. On this basis, the bearish form of ESR-LOGOS REIT is unlikely due to sell-offs by disgruntled unitholders. Rather, the decline in unit price of ESR-LOGOS REIT should be attributed to the challenging market conditions and the issuance of new units to fund the acquisition of ALOG units.

The total consideration for the merger was approximately $1.4 billion based on the scheme consideration of $0.95 for each ALOG unit. 1.6765 new ESR-REIT units were issued for each ALOG units, issued at $0.51.

It is not difficult to understand why unitholders had voted overwhelmingly for the merger. Post-merger, ESR-LOGOS REIT will ascend to one of the top ten largest S-REIT by market capitalization.

Lifetime Membership It seems like yesterday when I founded SG Wealth Builder. I can still remember the explosive passion and excitement when launching this wealth blog. Twelve years had passed and the energy remains amazingly strong. During this period, there had been a lot of twists and turns. Nevertheless, the brand of this blog grew from strength to strength. Over time, I have also developed a voice that connects with my readers. It is this distinctive voice that attracted readers to keep coming back to this blog and many had become long-time followers. Now, I would like to take this opportunity to explain why I had converted this blog into a membership site.

Value is what attracted readers and followers to SG Wealth Builder. Many people who visited my blog had provided numerous feedback that they had learned useful things that they were able to apply in their wealth building journey. Such compliments often invoked deep sense of self-satisfaction and achievement inside me.

To be able to make a difference in others certainly create a profound feeling. Thus, the motivation to bring this relationship to another level. In this article, I am going to share 7 reasons to sign up SG Wealth Builder Membership.

Sign up for only $19.99! After hitting a record high of $3.05 in October 2020, Keppel DC REIT (AJBU) share price lost its explosive steam and crashed to Earth. What on Earth is happening to the data-centre S-REIT? That month also saw Keppel DC REIT being included in the Straits Times Index (STI). In this blog, I have always stressed that being included in the STI is a double-edged sword – there are benefits in terms of increased stock liquidity. On the other hand, there are also risks which I will share in this article.

The last time that I covered Keppel DC REIT share price was in June 2022. Back then, the counter was trading at $2.05. Fast forward three months later, Keppel DC REIT share price continued its sluggish form, falling to the dismal $1.80 level. A member of SG Wealth Builder has written in to express her concerns on the falling Keppel DC REIT unit price.Currently, I am holding to another STI constituent – Mapletree Logistics Trust. Just like Keppel DC REIT, Mapletree Logistics has been in a severe bout of correction mode since last year, falling by 13.8% year-to-date. As such, I can share the feelings of Keppel DC REIT unitholders right now as I face the same predicament as them.

Sign up for only $19.99! What a disaster! Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT) share price became the talk of the town following the shocking failed attempt to privatise the S-REIT. 74.88% of the votes were cast in favour of the privatisation, just a whisker short of the 75% required for the deal to push through. Consequently, FHT share price suffered a catastrophic meltdown, falling by 23% to reach $0.54 within a week.

The failed privatisation deal, coupled with the devastating fallout for FHT share price, should be a surprise outcome for Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. After all, Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust (FLT) and Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) were merged successfully in 2020 without any hiccups. Many investors had anticipated a “straightforward outcome” for the privatisation scheme. In this regard, the coming days should see plenty of reckoning among FHT unitholders.

An SG Wealth Builder had enquired what will happen next for FHT and if there are any such precedents. Off-hand, all I can say is that it should be business as usual for FHT unitholders but the implication for FHT share price is another ball game altogether. I will elaborate further on this later.

In terms of similar cases of privatisation flops in SGX, the attempts by OCBC to privatise Great Eastern Holdings in 2004 and 2006 came to mind.

Sign up for only $19.99! Three cheers for Chip Eng Seng! Shares of the property developer has been in splendid form since May when Singapore lifted its border restrictions and eased most of the public health measures. Year-to-date, Chip Eng Seng share price rocketed 70%. In contrast, many SGX stocks have been in sluggish forms following the fallout from US Federal interest rate hikes and the on-going Russian-Ukraine war. Against this backdrop, the supersonic form of Chip Eng Seng is certainly eye-catching.

The recent revival of Chip Eng Seng must be surreal for investors. After all, the past two years had been an absolute nightmare for the property developer due to the pandemic. Losses after tax in 2021 amounted to $21.6 million while losses in 2020 amounted to a whopping $78.5 million. However, the Group managed to achieve an impressive turnaround by clocking in net profit of $38.5 million in the first half of 2022. Talk about light at end of tunnel!

This article was requested by an SG Wealth Builder member. On a personal front, I have some affinity with Chip Eng Seng as my late father used to be one of their sub-contractors transporting sands to their construction projects about 30 years ago.

Sign up for only $19.99! Since my last coverage on Singtel share price (SGX: Z74) on 25 April 2022, the counter went through some bouts of volatility. The stock was actually on a bullish form in the earlier part of the year, surging from $2.30 in January 2022 to a high of $2.80 in May 2022. Then the series of US Fed interest rates came along to douse the bullish form of Singtel share price.

Despite the volatility, an interesting trend is beginning to form for Singtel share price. Year-to-date, the counter has increased about 12%, outperforming the Straits Times Index (STI). The encouraging form of Singtel share price is attributed to the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions since March 2022.  Consequently, international visitor arrivals jumped almost 12 times year-on-year to reach 1.5 million during the first half of the year.

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, the lifting of border restrictions and easing of public health measures should benefit Singtel’s Singapore Consumer business. Furthermore, its regional associate’s businesses will also benefit from cross border travel as Southeast Asia countries start to ease borders’ restrictions too.

Sign up for only $19.99! My last article on Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) was more than two years ago. Back then, the onset of pandemic had created much uncertainty and volatility for global stock markets. KIT unit price was not spared from the carnage. The resulting meltdown prompted the management to conduct shares buyback to halt the collapse of KIT unit price. By 3 April 2020, 4.75 million of KIT shares had been repurchased, restoring sanity for the counter.

Time flies. In the blink of an eye, Singapore has reopened its borders and eased most of the pandemic public health measures. As such, I do think it is time opportune to do an article on Singapore’s largest infrastructure business trust, Keppel Infrastructure Trust. Also, a member of SG Wealth Builder had requested for a stock analysis of Keppel Infrastructure Trust, which I would duly oblige.

In my view, the biggest relief for unitholders must be the end of saga for Keppel Infrastructure Trust’s asset – Basslink, which was placed under voluntary administration on 12 November 2021. The debt ridden Basslink operates an undersea cable in Australia and had been involved in a legal dispute with its customer Hydro Tasmania. To make things worse, Keppel Infrastructure Trust had been unable to sell the asset to white knight, APA Group.

Sign up for only $19.99! On 24 August 2022, Singapore announced further relaxation of COVID-19 measures. Effective 29 August 2022, non-fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed to enter Singapore without applying for approval. In addition, wearing of mask is optional except on public transport and in healthcare facilities. These relaxations should further expedite the recovery of the travel-related sector, thereby benefitting S-REITs like OUE Commercial REIT.

Despite the positive developments, it is not going to be smooth sailing for OUE Commercial REIT as the operating environment has turned significantly dark. Obviously, the market is still reeling from the fallout arising from Russia invasion of Ukraine. Supply chain has been disrupted and inflation rates rocketed in many countries. Against this backdrop, US Federal Reserves has raised interest rates four times, bringing federal fund rate to between 2.25% and 2.5%.

A member of SG Wealth Builder has requested for a stock analysis of OUE Commercial REIT and sought my opinion on the management team’s competency. Year-to-date, the unit price has tanked by about 14.8% (at the point of writing). In terms of unit price performances, OUE Commercial REIT is easily one of the worst among the commercial S-REITs. What could be the factor for the bearish form?

Sign up for only $19.99! What a comeback! Following the release of a set of stellar 1HFY2022 financial result, Raffles Medical share price soared 17% within a week. The recovery of Raffles Medical share price must be surreal for investors as the counter collapsed spectacularly in February 2022 following the release of a set of decent financial result for FY2021.

The bearish form of Raffles Medical share price in late 2021 was attributed to the change in the COVID-19 test policy. Raffles Medical share (SGX: BSL) had ridden on the pandemic wave as the Group provides PCR swab tests services. Then again, it is always a risky business to pivot a business on pandemic measures.

In early 2022, Raffles Medical share price came under further pressure due to the lockdowns in China cities, which impacted the Group’s three hospitals in China. According to the management, Raffles Hospital Shanghai was the most impacted. To cushion the impact, the Group conducted a series of shares buybacks to rescue Raffles Medical share price. For the new financial year, the Group acquired 5.3 million of shares from the market. As at 28 June, the number of treasury shares held was 23.3 million.

Here’s why Raffles Medical share price plunged 12%

Raffles Medical share price in sensational return!

Sign up for only $19.99! Bring on the champagne! Light up the fireworks! AEM share price looks set for a splendid run after the Group delivered an incredibly stellar 1HFY2022 financial result. Revenue for 1H2022 surged by 181% year-on-year to $540.5 million, while net profit rocketed 180% year-on-year to smash $83 million. The first half revenue and net profit were the highest in the Group’s history.

Prior to the result release, many investors (including myself) have the jitters. After all, Intel has posted a brutal US$500 million loss in the second quarter, resulting in the company cutting back on expenditure. Nonetheless, AEM survived the scare to post a stellar financial result. While it is too early to claim that AEM has managed to weed off its reliance on Intel for revenue, the result could push AEM to expedite its effort in diversifying revenue source.

The patent obtained in July for the thermal control for its System Level Test equipment would give AEM the trump card in its negotiation with the top ten semiconductor companies. The contract wins from 2 major customers vindicated my belief that intellectual property is the way to win the battle.

The contract wins came from “a leading High-Performance Computing (“HPC”)/Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) company” and “a leading mobile devices company”.

Sign up for only $19.99! It could be peace before the perfect storm. Following the release of a decent set of financial result, the DBS share price has stalled somewhat. Rightfully, investors should have plenty to cheer about as the rising interest rates should provide power tailwinds for the bank’s business. Nonetheless, in today’s context, things aren’t always so straightforward.

Being the largest lender in Singapore, DBS’ business is sensitive to new property cooling measures. In the December 2021 cooling measures, the loan-to-value for HDB loans was tightened. However, it should be noted that round of cooling measures did not affect financial institution loans. As such, DBS housing loan portfolio has been resilient so far.

Fast forward to August 2022, the world has changed so much. Yes, the pandemic is still around but the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has created plenty of market chaos like never before. On the other hand, the US Federal Reserve is struggling to tame raging inflation by hiking interest rates. Despite these uncertainties, Singapore property market continued to defy gravity, with property prices sky-rocketing.

According to URA, prices of private residential properties increased by 3.5% in 2nd quarter of 2022, compared with the 0.7% increase in the previous quarter. 

Lifetime Membership On 21 July 2022, Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) delivered its 1QFY2022/2023 result. In view of this, its time to take stock the performance of the S-REIT. Unit price had tumbled following the US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes in March and May. Subsequently, it seems that the counter had bottomed in late May as unit price began to start climbing. The tepid unit price performances were attributed to the lack of buying by institutional investors. For the past 7 months, Mapletree Logistics Trust did not feature in the SGX Top Ten Institutional Net Buy Stocks.

The million-dollar question confronting investors right now must be whether Mapletree Logistics Trust (M44U) will launch another mega equity financing to fund its overseas logistics asset acquisitions. The $700 million equity fundraising in November 2021 to purchase the China, Vietnam and Japan assets had knocked the wind out of the unit price, which never returned to the $2.00 mark prior to the equity fundraising.

For background, the principal activity of MLT is to invest in a diversified portfolio of logistics real estate in Asia Pacific with the aim of providing its unitholders with a stable distribution stream. As at 30 June 2022, the Group’s portfolio had grown to a portfolio of 185 properties in Singapore, Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.

Lifetime Membership On 5 July 2022, AEM obtained the grant of patent for the thermal control technology used in its System Level Test equipment. Will this patent change the fortune of the semiconductor test equipment manufacturer? Following the fallouts from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and soaring interest rates, AEM share price has been in sluggish form in 2022. Year-to-date, AEM share price slumped by about 17%.

One should not underestimate the potential impact of the new patent on AEM share price. Non-executive Chairman Loke Wai San was the man who led AEM out of dark Egypt when the former management was embroiled in a corruption scandal in 2012. Back then, AEM share price was on the brink of collapse and the company had been placed on the SGX Watch-List.

Despite the challenges, Loke Wai San saw the potential in the equipment business due to the partnership with leading US chipmaker, Intel. The decision proved to be pivotal as the partnership between AEM and Intel led to a patent for its test handling stacking technology. The patent was granted in March 2018. If investors look back, AEM share price used to trade at less than $0.10 in 2016. The patent turbocharged AEM share price to nearly $2.00 in March 2018.

Lifetime Membership Investors must have that “uh-oh” feeling. iFAST share price looks set for an explosive thrashing following the revelation of net loss of $2.69 million recorded in 2QFY2022. The net loss was a complete reversal from the $7 million net profit recorded in 2QFY2021. The management claimed that the bizarre net loss was attributable to the one-time estimated impairment allowance of $5.2 million from its exit of iFAST India Holdings Pte Ltd (“iFAST India Holdings”). Nonetheless, investors wasted no time punishing the counter as it sank from $4.00 on 22 July to a low of $3.72 on 25 July.

In my blog, I have cautioned before that whenever a listed company announced its financial result in the middle of the night or over the weekends, you can be sure like hell that the result is going to be awful. Indeed, this was what happened to iFAST when the Group released its 1HFY2022 financial result on 23 July 2022 (a Saturday morning). In the good old days, such a strategy could help to break the fall of iFAST share price. However, with the proliferation of financial blogs in Singapore, such trick may not work.

What goes up must come down.

Lifetime Membership On 19 July 2022, Sembcorp Industries issued a profit guidance that the “financial results for 1H2022 is expected to be materially higher than 1H2021”. In this regard, investors should expect plenty of fireworks for Sembcorp Industries share price on 5 August 2022. However, before Nirvana can be reached, investors must put on their seat belt as stock market may be roiled yet again by the upcoming US FOMC meeting which herald another interest rate hike.

Being an utility company and waste management company, Sembcorp Industries’ businesses are deemed defensive, serving as an hedging investment amid the inflationary environment. Against the backdrop of soaring commodity prices, the Group’s Conventional Energy business is expected to be given a strong tailwind due to the strong energy demand and higher margins.

For FY2021, Conventional Energy business was the largest profit contributor as the segment raked in $174 million of net income. If it’s not for the $212 million impairment of Chongqing Songzao power plant incurred, Sembcorp Industries would have posted a significantly larger profit for FY2021. Henceforth, all eyes will be on the performance of the Conventional Energy business this year.

In FY2021, Singapore and India markets contributed 62% and 19% of revenue respectively.