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Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited's (SGX:QC7) Intrinsic Value Is Potentially 89% Above Its Share Price
The projected fair value for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is S$0.72 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of S$0.38 suggests Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is potentially 47% undervalued Analyst price target for QC7 is S$0.37 which is 48% below our fair value estimate In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited (SGX:QC7) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (SGD, Millions) S$21.2m S$24.7m S$27.6m S$27.2m S$27.0m S$27.2m S$27.4m S$27.8m S$28.3m S$28.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -1.57% Est @ -0.39% Est @ 0.43% Est @ 1.01% Est @ 1.42% Est @ 1.70% Est @ 1.90% Present Value (SGD, Millions) Discounted @ 5.8% S$20.1 S$22.0 S$23.3 S$21.7 S$20.4 S$19.3 S$18.5 S$17.7 S$17.0 S$16.4 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = S$196m After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.4%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.8%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2034 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = S$29m× (1 + 2.4%) ÷ (5.8%– 2.4%) = S$852m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= S$852m÷ ( 1 + 5.8%)10= S$484m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is S$680m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of S$0.4, the company appears quite good value at a 47% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. See our latest analysis for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Healthcare market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Singaporean market. Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%. Significant insider buying over the past 3 months. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Q & M Dental Group (Singapore), we've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine: Risks: To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) . Future Earnings: How does QC7's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the SGX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. 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Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited's (SGX:QC7) Intrinsic Value Is Potentially 89% Above Its Share Price
The projected fair value for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is S$0.72 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of S$0.38 suggests Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is potentially 47% undervalued Analyst price target for QC7 is S$0.37 which is 48% below our fair value estimate In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited (SGX:QC7) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (SGD, Millions) S$21.2m S$24.7m S$27.6m S$27.2m S$27.0m S$27.2m S$27.4m S$27.8m S$28.3m S$28.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -1.57% Est @ -0.39% Est @ 0.43% Est @ 1.01% Est @ 1.42% Est @ 1.70% Est @ 1.90% Present Value (SGD, Millions) Discounted @ 5.8% S$20.1 S$22.0 S$23.3 S$21.7 S$20.4 S$19.3 S$18.5 S$17.7 S$17.0 S$16.4 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = S$196m After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.4%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.8%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2034 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = S$29m× (1 + 2.4%) ÷ (5.8%– 2.4%) = S$852m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= S$852m÷ ( 1 + 5.8%)10= S$484m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is S$680m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of S$0.4, the company appears quite good value at a 47% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. See our latest analysis for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Healthcare market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Singaporean market. Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%. Significant insider buying over the past 3 months. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Q & M Dental Group (Singapore), we've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine: Risks: To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) . Future Earnings: How does QC7's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the SGX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Times
08-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Group CEO Ng Chin Siau increases stake in Q & M
[SINGAPORE] Over the five trading sessions from May 30 to June 5, institutions were marginal net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$32 million compared to net outflow of S$2 million for the preceding five sessions. This keeps the net institutional outflow for 2025 to June 5 at S$1.76 billion. The stocks that saw the highest net institutional outflow were UOB , OCBC , Singapore Exchange , Jardine Matheson Holdings , Singtel , CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , CapitaLand Investment , ST Engineering , ComfortDelGro and Mapletree Industrial Trust . Meanwhile, DBS , Singapore Airlines , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , Keppel , Sats , CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , UOL , SIA Engineering , Thai Beverage , and UMS Integration led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions. From a sector perspective, Reits and telecommunications experienced the highest net institutional outflow, while industrials and real estate (ex-Reits) saw the most net institutional inflow. The five sessions saw 19 primary-listed companies make buybacks with a total consideration of S$46 million. City Developments announced its off-market buyback of 26,800,814, or 10 per cent, of its preference shares at S$0.78 apiece which will be booked on Jun 10. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also continued to conduct share repurchases on four of the five sessions. More than 80 director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for more than 40 primary-listed stocks. Directors or CEOs again filed 13 acquisitions, and no disposals, while substantial shareholders filed 11 acquisitions and five disposals. This included director or CEO acquisitions in Bonvests Holdings , Digital Core Reit , Megachem , PropNex , Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) , Singapore Shipping Corp , Singtel, Sinostar PEC Holdings , Stamford Land , SunMoon Food Company , TeleChoice International , Uni-Asia Group and Wing Tai . 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 Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Between May 30 and June 3, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) non-independent executive director and group chief executive officer Ng Chin Siau increased his total interest from 53.92 per cent to 54.23 per cent. The 2,812,300 shares were acquired by Quan Min Holdings at an average price of S$0.355 apiece. Since the end of April, Dr Ng has increased his total interest from 53.02 per cent. At the FY24 AGM in late April, Dr Ng shared that after strong organic growth during Covid, the company expects to pursue more mergers and acquisitions over the next two to three years, while the chief operating officer also noted rising interest from AI-driven firms seeking its information management and treatment services. Singtel On Jun 5, Singtel independent non-executive director Yong Ying-I acquired 150,000 shares at an average price of S$3.87 per share. This increased her direct interest to 210,000 shares. On May 22, Singtel launched a value realisation buyback programme of up to S$2 billion, funded by excess capital from asset recycling. This follows on from the group changing its dividend policy back in May 2024 to include a value realisation dividend in addition to a core dividend. Since then, the mid-term asset recycling target of S$6 billion under the Singtel28 growth plan has been raised to S$9 billion. Uni-Asia Group On May 30, Uni-Asia Group executive director and CEO Masahiro Iwabuchi acquired 454,300 shares at an average price of S$0.78 per share. With a consideration of S$356,171, this increased Iwabuchi's direct interest in the company from 0.82 per cent to 1.4 per cent. He leads the property investment department with deep banking and real estate experience across Asia and holds directorships across multiple group subsidiaries. In its FY24 (ended Dec 31), Uni-Asia Group launched a business transformation aimed at meeting internal return targets to support sustainable dividends, with a focus on driving continued growth in the years ahead. The group has maintained a 14-year track record of consistent dividends and is also exploring a share buyback mandate to enhance shareholder value. At the same time, it continues to reinvest in its Japan real estate portfolio, evaluate its structure, and explore strategic partnerships to support long-term return on equity growth and close the net asset value gap. For shipping, the group is focused on restructuring and reinvesting in joint venture vessels – such as the Kellet Island initiative – to renew fleet structures and broaden both the vessel investment portfolio and stakeholder base. When market conditions are favourable, the group maintains it may consider acquiring newbuild vessels, as part of its broader fleet revitalisation strategy to gradually replace ageing ships – typically around 15 years old – with younger vessels between seven and 10 years of age. Digital Core Reit On May 28, Digital Core Management's lead independent non-executive director John Herbert acquired 250,000 units of Digital Core Reit at US$0.495 per unit. This was his first acquisition on the open market since joining the board in November 2021. Herbert has decades of global investment banking and real estate expertise, having led major real estate divisions at HSBC, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, and overseen deals across more than 35 countries. For its Q1FY25 (ended Mar 31), the manager reported Digital Core Reit delivered strong execution with 10 per cent growth in distributable income from Q1FY24, rising occupancy, a strategic Osaka acquisition, and successful fixed-rate debt issuance ahead of tariff impacts. In late March, the Reit also acquired a 20 per cent stake in a fully leased, purpose-built Osaka data centre for 13 billion yen (US$87 million), enhancing its Asia Pacific diversification, lifting distribution per unit by 1.8 per cent, and positioning Osaka as its fourth-largest market. The manager also highlighted that the portfolio is 98 per cent occupied, with over 85 per cent of rental revenue shielded from energy cost inflation via pass-throughs, and full freehold ownership protects against rising ground rents. Bonvests Holdings On May 30, Bonvests Holdings executive chairman Henry Ngo acquired 227,000 shares at an average price of S$0.90 per share. The acquisitions were made through Allsland, which is wholly owned by Ngo. This increases his total interest in Bonvests Holdings from 84.75 per cent to 84.80 per cent. His preceding acquisition was in November 2024 with 101,000 shares acquired at the same price. He has gradually increased his total interest in the group from 82.93 per cent in August 2018. Ngo noted in April that the rental division remains stable, while the hotel division faces rising competition, costs, and global uncertainty despite industry recovery. He added that the industrial division improved in FY24 (ended Dec 31) but continues to face headwinds in its contract cleaning and waste disposal segments due to stiff competition, rising material costs, and wage pressures. Ngo maintained that despite these challenges, the division remains focused on preserving cash and enhancing operational efficiency. PropNex On May 30, PropNex executive director and deputy CEO Kelvin Fong Keng Seong acquired 31,000 shares at an average price of S$1.01 per share. His deemed interest is 10.26 per cent. His preceding acquisitions were in April, with 86,000 shares acquired at an average price of S$1.01 apiece. At the April 23 AGM, Fong highlighted a robust pipeline of upcoming and ongoing launches, with inventory expected to reach about 18,000 units in 2025, indicating a healthy market. He also relayed that PropNex continues to lead in market share across multiple new projects, driven not just by its large salesforce but also by high productivity, strong training, and support systems. Fong also maintained that revenue from these transactions is anticipated to be recognised in the first half of 2025. Fong leads the sales and leadership training initiatives, including the flagship PropNex boot camp which empowers over 2,000 salespersons annually in collaboration with fellow team leaders. He also highlighted at the April AGM that he remains committed to developing its salespersons through training programmes, boot camps, and mindset workshops, reinforcing their role as trusted property consultants. He added that consumer education initiatives and digital tools further enhance customer engagement, while broader outreach efforts and his second book, Property Wealth System: Elevate Your Assets, Elevate Your Wealth, underscore PropNex's focus on thought leadership and empowerment. PropNex is Singapore's largest listed real estate agency. At the April AGM, executive chairman and CEO Mohamed Ismail also relayed Frost & Sullivan data that found PropNex represented 35 per cent of Singapore's salespersons strength, it accounted for 64 per cent of total property transactions for HDB resale, new launches and private residential resale (including executive condominiums, landed and non-landed) in 2024. Wing Tai Holdings Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung continued to raise his deemed interest in the company from 61.84 to 61.85 per cent, through 100,000 shares bought by his spouse, Helen Chow. The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX's market research reports, visit
Business Times
08-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Group CEO Ng Chin Siau increases his stake in Q & M
[SINGAPORE] Over the five trading sessions from May 30 to June 5, institutions were marginal net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$32 million compared to net outflow of S$2 million for the preceding five sessions. This keeps the net institutional outflow for 2025 to June 5 at S$1.76 billion. The stocks that saw the highest net institutional outflow were UOB , OCBC , Singapore Exchange , Jardine Matheson Holdings , Singtel , CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , CapitaLand Investment , ST Engineering , ComfortDelGro and Mapletree Industrial Trust . Meanwhile, DBS , Singapore Airlines , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , Keppel , Sats , CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , UOL , SIA Engineering , Thai Beverage , and UMS Integration led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions. From a sector perspective, Reits and telecommunications experienced the highest net institutional outflow, while industrials and real estate (ex-Reits) saw the most net institutional inflow. The five sessions saw 19 primary-listed companies make buybacks with a total consideration of S$46 million. City Developments announced its off-market buyback of 26,800,814, or 10 per cent, of its preference shares at S$0.78 apiece which will be booked on Jun 10. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also continued to conduct share repurchases on four of the five sessions. More than 80 director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for more than 40 primary-listed stocks. Directors or CEOs again filed 13 acquisitions, and no disposals, while substantial shareholders filed 11 acquisitions and five disposals. This included director or CEO acquisitions in Bonvests Holdings , Digital Core Reit , Megachem , PropNex , Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) , Singapore Shipping Corp , Singtel, Sinostar PEC Holdings , Stamford Land , SunMoon Food Company , TeleChoice International , Uni-Asia Group and Wing Tai . 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 Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Between May 30 and June 3, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) non-independent executive director and group chief executive officer Ng Chin Siau increased his total interest from 53.92 per cent to 54.23 per cent. The 2,812,300 shares were acquired by Quan Min Holdings at an average price of S$0.355 apiece. Since the end of April, Dr Ng has increased his total interest from 53.02 per cent. At the FY24 AGM in late April, Dr Ng shared that after strong organic growth during Covid, the company expects to pursue more mergers and acquisitions over the next two to three years, while the chief operating officer also noted rising interest from AI-driven firms seeking its information management and treatment services. Singtel On Jun 5, Singtel independent non-executive director Yong Ying-I acquired 150,000 shares at an average price of S$3.87 per share. This increased her direct interest to 210,000 shares. On May 22, Singtel launched a value realisation buyback programme of up to S$2 billion, funded by excess capital from asset recycling. This follows on from the group changing its dividend policy back in May 2024 to include a value realisation dividend in addition to a core dividend. Since then, the mid-term asset recycling target of S$6 billion under the Singtel28 growth plan has been raised to S$9 billion. Uni-Asia Group On May 30, Uni-Asia Group executive director and CEO Masahiro Iwabuchi acquired 454,300 shares at an average price of S$0.78 per share. With a consideration of S$356,171, this increased Iwabuchi's direct interest in the company from 0.82 per cent to 1.4 per cent. He leads the property investment department with deep banking and real estate experience across Asia and holds directorships across multiple group subsidiaries. In its FY24 (ended Dec 31), Uni-Asia Group launched a business transformation aimed at meeting internal return targets to support sustainable dividends, with a focus on driving continued growth in the years ahead. The group has maintained a 14-year track record of consistent dividends and is also exploring a share buyback mandate to enhance shareholder value. At the same time, it continues to reinvest in its Japan real estate portfolio, evaluate its structure, and explore strategic partnerships to support long-term return on equity growth and close the net asset value gap. For shipping, the group is focused on restructuring and reinvesting in joint venture vessels – such as the Kellet Island initiative – to renew fleet structures and broaden both the vessel investment portfolio and stakeholder base. When market conditions are favourable, the group maintains it may consider acquiring newbuild vessels, as part of its broader fleet revitalisation strategy to gradually replace ageing ships – typically around 15 years old – with younger vessels between seven and 10 years of age. Digital Core Reit On May 28, Digital Core Management's lead independent non-executive director John Herbert acquired 250,000 units of Digital Core Reit at US$0.495 per unit. This was his first acquisition on the open market since joining the board in November 2021. Herbert has decades of global investment banking and real estate expertise, having led major real estate divisions at HSBC, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, and overseen deals across more than 35 countries. For its Q1FY25 (ended Mar 31), the manager reported Digital Core Reit delivered strong execution with 10 per cent growth in distributable income from Q1FY24, rising occupancy, a strategic Osaka acquisition, and successful fixed-rate debt issuance ahead of tariff impacts. In late March, the Reit also acquired a 20 per cent stake in a fully leased, purpose-built Osaka data centre for 13 billion yen (US$87 million), enhancing its Asia Pacific diversification, lifting distribution per unit by 1.8 per cent, and positioning Osaka as its fourth-largest market. The manager also highlighted that the portfolio is 98 per cent occupied, with over 85 per cent of rental revenue shielded from energy cost inflation via pass-throughs, and full freehold ownership protects against rising ground rents. Bonvests Holdings On May 30, Bonvests Holdings executive chairman Henry Ngo acquired 227,000 shares at an average price of S$0.90 per share. The acquisitions were made through Allsland, which is wholly owned by Ngo. This increases his total interest in Bonvests Holdings from 84.75 per cent to 84.80 per cent. His preceding acquisition was in November 2024 with 101,000 shares acquired at the same price. He has gradually increased his total interest in the group from 82.93 per cent in August 2018. Ngo noted in April that the rental division remains stable, while the hotel division faces rising competition, costs, and global uncertainty despite industry recovery. He added that the industrial division improved in FY24 (ended Dec 31) but continues to face headwinds in its contract cleaning and waste disposal segments due to stiff competition, rising material costs, and wage pressures. Ngo maintained that despite these challenges, the division remains focused on preserving cash and enhancing operational efficiency. PropNex On May 30, PropNex executive director and deputy CEO Kelvin Fong Keng Seong acquired 31,000 shares at an average price of S$1.01 per share. His deemed interest is 10.26 per cent. His preceding acquisitions were in April, with 86,000 shares acquired at an average price of S$1.01 apiece. At the April 23 AGM, Fong highlighted a robust pipeline of upcoming and ongoing launches, with inventory expected to reach about 18,000 units in 2025, indicating a healthy market. He also relayed that PropNex continues to lead in market share across multiple new projects, driven not just by its large salesforce but also by high productivity, strong training, and support systems. Fong also maintained that revenue from these transactions is anticipated to be recognised in the first half of 2025. Fong leads the sales and leadership training initiatives, including the flagship PropNex boot camp which empowers over 2,000 salespersons annually in collaboration with fellow team leaders. He also highlighted at the April AGM that he remains committed to developing its salespersons through training programmes, boot camps, and mindset workshops, reinforcing their role as trusted property consultants. He added that consumer education initiatives and digital tools further enhance customer engagement, while broader outreach efforts and his second book, Property Wealth System: Elevate Your Assets, Elevate Your Wealth, underscore PropNex's focus on thought leadership and empowerment. PropNex is Singapore's largest listed real estate agency. At the April AGM, executive chairman and CEO Mohamed Ismail also relayed Frost & Sullivan data that found PropNex represented 35 per cent of Singapore's salespersons strength, it accounted for 64 per cent of total property transactions for HDB resale, new launches and private residential resale (including executive condominiums, landed and non-landed) in 2024. Wing Tai Holdings Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung continued to raise his deemed interest in the company from 61.84 to 61.85 per cent, through 100,000 shares bought by his spouse, Helen Chow. The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX's market research reports, visit
Business Times
01-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Independent director Chua Kee Lock acquires venture shares on open market
[SINGAPORE] Over the five trading sessions from May 23 to May 29, institutions were marginal net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$2 million compared to net outflow of S$65 million for the preceding five sessions. This keeps the net institutional outflow for the 2025 year to May 29 at S$1.73 billion. Institutional Flows Over the five trading sessions through May 29, the stocks that saw the highest net institutional outflow were SingTel , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings , Genting Singapore , CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , UOB , CapitaLand Investment , ComfortDelGro , Lendlease Global Commercial Reit , Riverstone Holdings , and Mapletree Industrial Trust . Meanwhile DBS , Singapore Exchange , ST Engineering , Singapore Airlines , Sats , Seatrium , Thai Beverage Public Co , Frasers Hospitality Trust , Keppel , and Hongkong Land Holdings led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions. From a sector perspective, telecommunications and Reits experienced the highest net institutional outflow, while financial services and industrials saw the most net institutional inflow. Share buybacks The five sessions through May 29 saw 18 primary-listed companies make buybacks with a total consideration of S$45 million. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land conducted share repurchases on four of the five sessions, with 1,563,300 shares bought at an average price of US$5.24 apiece. The manager of ESR-Reit also bought back 500,000 units of the Reit at an average price of S$2.22 per unit. Director transactions The five trading sessions spanning May 23 through May 29 saw close to 90 director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for more than 30 primary-listed stocks. Directors or CEOs again filed 24 acquisitions and two disposals, while substantial shareholders filed 22 acquisitions and six disposals. 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 This included director or CEO acquisitions in Cosmosteel Holdings , Edition , Far East Orchard , Ho Bee Land , Nam Cheong , Niks Professional , Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) , Samudera Shipping Line , Sinostar PEC Holdings , SunMoon Food Company , UMS Integration , Venture Corporation and Wing Tai Holdings . Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) On May 26, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) non-independent executive director and group chief executive officer Ng Chin Siau increased his total interest from 53.72 per cent to 53.92 per cent. The 1,882,200 shares were acquired by Quan Min Holdings at an average price of S$0.345 apiece. Since the end of April, Dr Ng has increased his total interest from 53.02 per cent. The group reported its FY2024 results in early March. Despite total revenue being comparable to FY2023, FY2024's focus on operational efficiency and cost discipline led to a 27 per cent increase in attributable net profit to S$14.6 million, with FY2025's strategy targeting regional expansion and ESG. Venture Corporation On May 22, Chua KL Family acquired 30,000 shares at S$11.08 apiece. This took the deemed interest of Venture Corporation independent non-executive director Chua Kee Lock to 0.01 per cent. Chua is the group president and CEO of Vertex Venture Holdings (VH), a Singapore-based venture capital investment holding company wholly owned by Temasek Holdings. VH anchors a global network of independently managed funds, including five early-stage technology funds, an early-stage healthcare fund, and a growth-stage fund, all supported by third-party capital. Chua also serves as managing partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and chairman of Vertex Growth Fund. His acquisition follows Venture Corporation detailing in its Q1 FY2025 business update that it improved its net profit margin to 9.1 per cent. This was driven by ongoing cost efficiency efforts and the delivery of higher-value solutions through its differentiated capabilities. The group also noted that overall revenue declined, primarily due to reduced demand in the lifestyle consumer technology segment, where research-and-development-led design innovations enhanced product reliability and lifespan, resulting in fewer replacements. Excluding this segment, the group maintained that revenue would have increased in Q1 FY2025 from Q1 FY2024. Meanwhile, Venture Corporation highlighted those initiatives in other domains – such as networking and communications, and advanced industrials – continued to gain traction, showing year-on-year progress. Wing Tai Holdings Wing Tai Holdings chairman and managing director Cheng Wai Keung continued to raise his deemed interest in the company from 61.78 per cent to 61.84 per cent, through 395,000 shares bought by his spouse, Helen Chow. UMS Integration On May 26, UMS Integration CEO Andy Luong acquired 100,000 shares at an average price of S$1.15 per share. This increased his deemed interest from 15.36 per cent to 15.38 per cent. His preceding acquisitions on the open market were in April, with 199,800 shares acquired at S$0.925 apiece and in September 2024 with 600,000 shares acquired at S$0.983 apiece. This followed the Q1 FY2025 business update released on May 9. Luong noted that the group performed well in Q1, achieving improved revenue, gross margin expansion, and healthy cash flow despite a challenging global business environment compared with the same period last year. He added that significant progress was made in meeting the needs of key customers, with sales in Malaysia nearly trebling due to strong orders from a new key customer. Luong also maintained that despite the ongoing trade tensions affecting global sentiment, the order forecasts from the group's key customers remain unchanged. Cosmosteel Holdings Between May 23 and 27, Cosmosteel Holdings executive director and CEO Jack Ong acquired 500,000 shares at an average price of S$0.220 apiece, increasing his direct interest from 16.81 per cent to 17 per cent. This follows his acquisition of 6,050,000 shares between May 20 and 22. On May 15, Evolve Capital Advisory, on behalf of 3HA Capital, announced a voluntary conditional cash offer for all issued and paid-up ordinary shares of Cosmosteel Holdings at S$0.20 apiece. Samudera Shipping Line Between May 23 and 28, Samudera Shipping Line executive director and CEO Bani Maulana Mulia acquired 73,100 shares at an average price of S$0.819 apiece. This increased his direct interest from 0.67 per cent to 0.68 per cent and followed his acquisition of 99,600 shares at S$0.80 apiece between May 8 and 14. Ho Bee Land Between May 26 and 29, Ho Bee Holdings acquired 38,600 shares of the company at S$1.77 apiece. This marginally increased the deemed interest of Ho Bee Land executive chairman Chua Thian Poh, which is at 75.65 per cent. This closely followed the acquisition of 129,200 shares at S$1.75 per share between May 16 and 20. Sinostar PEC Holdings Between May 23 and 29, Sinostar PEC Holdings executive chairman and CEO Li Xiang Ping acquired one million shares at S$0.147 apiece. This increased his deemed interest in the China-based producer and supplier of downstream petrochemical products from 69.46 per cent to 69.56 per cent. This follows his acquisition of 800,000 shares at S$0.142 apiece between May 19 and 21, and 880,000 shares acquired in April. Since the end of 2019, he has raised his deemed interest from 57.80 per cent, primarily through a rights issue earlier this year. Nam Cheong Between May 21 and 26, Nam Cheong executive chairman Tiong Su Kouk increased his total interest from 32.17 per cent to 32.18 per cent. This was through the acquisition of 30,000 shares by his wife, Wong Bak Hee, at an average price of S$0.52 apiece. The acquisition follows Nam Cheong providing a Q1 FY2025 business update on May 14 detailing its gross profit increased 13 per cent from Q1FY2024 to RM 56.3 million (S$17.1 million). This followed its FY2024 gross profit increasing to RM 363.3 million from RM 168.6 million in FY2023. Nam Cheong said that its sustained performance underscores the success of its strategic shift towards a more resilient chartering model and its ability to navigate market challenges. Nam Cheong and its subsidiaries are one of South-east Asia's leading offshore support vessel (OSV) providers, originating from Sarawak, Malaysia. Tiong has maintained majority shareholding control with an active role in the management of the group since 1999. He oversees its strategic direction and has played a significant role in steering the company from being primarily involved in the construction of barges and fishing vessels in Malaysia to the building of offshore support vessels. The stock has ranked among the top 70 local stocks traded by turnover this year, while also ranking among the 40 stocks that have booked the most net institutional inflow. The writer is the market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX's market research reports, visit
