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The Star
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Great Eastern to resume trading as delisting fails
A man walks past the SGX sign in Singapore. — Reuters SINGAPORE: Great Eastern Holdings Ltd's shares are expected to resume trading in Singapore, after the insurer failed to win enough shareholder support for its delisting plan that was backed by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC). About 63.5% of the insurer's minority shareholders voted for a delisting but that fell short of the threshold needed to take Great Eastern private. This was according to a company filing after an EGM. As a result, OCBC's S$900mil (US$704mil) offer has lapsed, the country's second-largest lender, said in a separate filing. The deal's failure is a setback for OCBC, which has owned the majority of Great Eastern since 2004 and has tried multiple times to take the 117-year-old insurer private. OCBC chief executive officer Helen Wong has said that it wanted to fully integrate its banking, wealth management and insurance businesses, and that owning all of Great Eastern would help improve its shareholder returns. To support Great Eastern's delisting proposal, OCBC had offered S$30.15 a share for the 6.28% of the insurer it does not own. It improved the offer by 17.8% last month from its previous bid. Great Eastern, one of the largest insurers in Singapore and Malaysia, has total assets of more than S$100bil with 16 million-plus policyholders. OCBC's shares closed up 0.8% last Tuesday, versus a 0.4% gain in the broader Straits Times Index. 'Whether OCBC owns 94% or 100%, it has a minimal impact on earnings or strategy as they are already in control,' said Jayden Vantarakis, head of equity research for South-East Asia at Macquarie Capital, adding that the market's view of the lender won't change with the latest outcome. Trading in Great Eastern had been suspended since July 2024, after OCBC failed to obtain a sufficient level for a delisting or compulsory acquisition with its previous offer. Its latest bid this year was still lower than the insurer's 2024 embedded value of S$38.08 a share, a metric used to value insurers elsewhere and cited by resistant minority shareholders urging a higher offer. Great Eastern will issue new shares to meet the exchange's listing rules. After the share issue, OCBC's holding in Great Eastern will be around 88% from the current level of about 94%, the insurer said in an earlier statement. It did not provide any date for the resumption of trading. The insurer has contributed an average of about S$700mil a year in net profit to OCBC over the past 10 years, translating to an average of about 15% of OCBC's annual profit over this period, the bank has said. — Bloomberg
Mint
13-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Great Eastern to Resume Trading as Delisting Bid Fails
(Bloomberg) -- Great Eastern Holdings Ltd.'s shares are expected to resume trading in Singapore, after the insurer failed to win enough shareholder support for its delisting plan that was backed by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. About 63.5% of the insurer's minority shareholders voted for a delisting but that fell short of the threshold needed to take Great Eastern private, according to a company filing on Tuesday after an extraordinary general meeting. As a result, OCBC's S$900 million ($704 million) offer has lapsed, the country's second-largest lender, said in a separate filing. The deal's failure is a setback for OCBC, which has owned the majority of Great Eastern since 2004 and has tried multiple times to take the 117-year-old insurer private. OCBC Chief Executive Officer Helen Wong has said that it wanted to fully integrate its banking, wealth management and insurance businesses, and that owning all of Great Eastern would help improve its shareholder returns. To support Great Eastern's delisting proposal, OCBC had offered S$30.15 a share for the 6.28% of the insurer it does not own. It improved the offer by 17.8% last month from its previous bid. Great Eastern, one of the largest insurers in Singapore and Malaysia, has total assets of more than S$100 billion with 16 million-plus policyholders. OCBC's shares closed up 0.8% on Tuesday, versus a 0.4% gain in the broader Straits Times Index. 'Whether OCBC owns 94% or 100%, it has a minimal impact on earnings or strategy as they are already in control,' said Jayden Vantarakis, head of equity research for Southeast Asia at Macquarie Capital, adding that the market's view of the lender won't change with the latest outcome. Trading in Great Eastern had been suspended since July 2024, after OCBC failed to obtain a sufficient level for a delisting or compulsory acquisition with its previous offer. Its latest bid this year was still lower than the insurer's 2024 embedded value of S$38.08 a share, a metric used to value insurers elsewhere and cited by resistant minority shareholders urging a higher offer. Great Eastern will issue new shares to meet the exchange's listing rules. After the share issue, OCBC's holding in Great Eastern will be around 88% from the current level of about 94%, the insurer said in an earlier statement. It did not provide any date for the resumption of trading. The insurer has contributed an average of about S$700 million a year in net profit to OCBC over the past 10 years, translating to an average of about 15% of OCBC's annual profit over this period, the bank has said. (Corrects currency in fourth paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
Business Times
20-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
JPMorgan, Macquarie bet on S-Reits amid falling borrowing costs, MAS mandates
[SINGAPORE] Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) could gain from falling interest rates, particularly those with a domestic focus, as well as The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) initiatives, reports from JPMorgan and Macquarie indicated. This comes as declines in various interest rates, such as the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (Sora) and treasury bills, have lowered borrowing costs, providing upsides for S-Reits, JPMorgan reported on Sunday (Jun 15). 'We believe this should generate upside for Singapore-focused Reits or stocks with resilient cashflows or leveraged balance sheets,' JPMorgan analysts said. Tariff risks, a weakened greenback, export front-loading, lowered commodity prices, capital inflows and monetary easing are among the factors that have spurred sharp falls in Singapore interest rates, they added. They pointed to Singapore-focused S-Reits with a larger share of Singapore dollar debt as prime beneficiaries of declines in Sora. With revenue growth, such S-Reits could get distribution per unit (DPU) improvements, the analysts said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up However, overseas-focused S-Reits or those more exposed to trade have clocked year-on-year declines in DPU with savings from Singdollar debt being offset by vacancies, foreign exchange headwinds and higher costs from refinancing low-priced overseas debt. A Macquarie Capital report dated Jun 16 also named some S-Reits, in addition to stocks, as potential winners from new MAS initiatives. Macquarie mentioned the central bank's Equity Market Development Programme that is set to channel S$5 billion to local fund managers, and other private capital to be injected into other mandates. Domestic-focused S-Reits win on lowered rates, borrowing costs CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Ascendas Reit (Clar), Keppel Data Centre Reit (KDCReit), Frasers Centrepoint Trust were among JPMorgan's top picks for S-Reits. Its top picks were Parkway Life Reit (PReit), Clar and KDCReit, which is set to join the Straits Times Index on Jun 23. Jayden Vantarakis, head of Asean Equity Research at Macquarie Capital, highlighted that PReit as a possible beneficiary. It has had an 'impeccable track record of steady growth since (its) initial public offering without raising funds' while facing limited downside risks, he said. Vantarakis said: 'We expect a rare quantum leap of PReit's Singapore rental growth in FY2026 once enhancements to Mount Elizabeth Orchard Hospital are completed.' Bank profits may suffer but fund inflows stay strong Broad monetary easing poses a 'significant headwind' for Singapore banks' profitability as it could lower net interest margin (NIM), JPMorgan said. The investment banking group foresees a 12 basis point year-on-year compression in NIM for 2025, with another 10 basis points for 2026. However, lowered rates have also accelerated flows into Singapore-dedicated funds over the past 12 months, mitigating the blow. Given this, JPMorgan analysts remained neutral on the sector. 'While banks will bear the brunt of lower interest rates, we believe the sector could still be supported by resilient yields and strong inflows from domestic funds subscriptions,' they said. MAS' S$5 billion inflow to give small- to mid- caps a short-run boost The S$5 billion inflow from the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Equity Market Development Programme could lead small- to mid- cap stocks to outperform in the short-run, JPMorgan said. As part of Singapore's equity market reform, the scheme aims to channel S$5 billion to fund managers focused on Singapore listed equities and to broaden investor participation beyond large-cap stocks. It prioritises funds with a higher weighting in small- to mid- cap stocks. However, a 'significant outperformance' over large cap stocks is unlikely, given higher multiples, uncertain profitability and lower liquidity and growth of such stocks. 'In our view, stocks with a good track record of earnings growth and quality balance sheets would attract additional flows,' JPMorgan analysts said. Quality mid-cap stocks and those with upside potential from asset recycling stand to be key beneficiaries, the investment banking group added.
