Singapore

• Hybr1d, a workforce management platform co-founded by Hmlet co-founder Yoan Kamalski, has raised US$3.2 million in pre-seed funding from Global Founders Capital, MS&AD, 468 Capital, and 1982 Ventures.
• Kamalski, who stepped down from his role as CEO of Hmlet in March 2021, established Hybr1d with Aditya Anand and Pauline Wetzer last year.
• His latest venture helps businesses automate and streamline their IT and HR processes, such as onboarding, procurement, and leave and attendance management.

• Singapore-based startup ONEVIEW today announced that it had raised S$4 million (US$2.9 million) in a seed funding round from ADERA Global; Beyon Connect, part of the Beyon Group; and Cumulo9 to transform the digital payments and communication landscape across Southeast Asia.
• In a press statement, the company said that it aims to set the benchmark for a digital post-box service that will greatly improve people’s lives.
• It aims to revolutionise bill payments by simplifying everyday digital communications with what it promised to be a more convenient, sustainable, and spam-free experience.

• Private debt platform Kilde has raised US$1.1 million in seed funding from investors including Big Sky Capital, Borderless Capital, AXL Ventures, and Algorand Foundation.
• The fresh funds will help the Singapore-based firm expand its private credit offerings and develop SafeBay, its securities tokenization project.
• Founded in 2019, Kilde caters to accredited and institutional investors by giving them access to private credit deals, which can yield annual returns of up to 13.5%. The company said that its investors have seen annual returns of 11.9%.

• S-REITs actively manage impact of rising rates; average ICR at 4.3 times Higher interest rates have typically been associated with higher borrowing costs and therefore lower distributions available for unitholders.
• To hedge the impact of rising rates, S-REITs have been actively managing interest rate exposures.

Lucror Analytics’ ESG Scores are based on a 3-tiered scale and are adjusted for Controversies (if applicable).
We assess Yanlord Land’s ESG as “Adequate”, in line with its Environmental, Social and Governance scores. Controversies are “Immaterial” and Disclosure is “Strong”.

• Grab‘s announcement this week that it would cut 11% of its workforce was a move to rationalise costs to give the platform a sure footing for longer-term growth. 
• Near-Term profit targets would be achieved without these recent cuts which are focused on addressing geographical cost imbalances and taking into account potential automation through the impact of Generative AI.
• The outlook for growth this year looks promising, with the potential for a strong 2H recovery despite employee-related costs but cuts will establish a more competitive cost base long term. 

• Hotel and investment property play Amara Holdings (AMA SP) announced that its controlling shareholders are in discussions with a third party in relation to a possible transaction. 
• Shares up for grabs controlled by the Teo family are estimated to exceed 65% of shares out. 
• No price was mentioned. And there is no guarantee a firm Offer will unfold. Shares have gained 38% in the past three trading sessions. 

• UOB saw bad loans rise 22% during the GFC where DBS saw bad loans rise 146%
• During oil price collapse at FY16, DBS saw NPLs up 83%, UOB saw NPLs up 41%
• In current downturn, a market capitalization decline may be less at UOB vs DBS

• Amara Holdings (AMA SP) received a written notification from Mr Albert Teo Hock Chuan (CEO) and Ms Susan Teo Geok Tin (Company Secretary) that they mulling an offer. 
• The shares entered a trading halt on 16 June as the share price increased 23.9% from S$0.355 on 14 June to S$0.440 per share on 16 June.
• Recent SGX privatisation proposals have shown that offerors tend to be miserly with their premiums. The sharp share price rally makes it challenging to launch an offer.

• Recently, there has been more discussion about TikTok’s e-commerce business in Southeast Asia on Chinese media and social networks.
• Many service providers and entrepreneurs in China have also been inspired and hope to take the lead in the market with their domestic experience.
• We estimate that TikTok’s 2023 GMV in Southeast Asia will reach 20%~ of Shopee, and this is one of the key reasons why we are bearish to SE.

• Top 10 S-Reits & property trusts that gained during the week of FOMC June 2023 meeting Key news last week was the US Federal Reserve’s decision to put a pause on interest rates, keeping them unchanged as announced during this month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
• The top 5 gainers among S-REITs & Property Trusts during the week until Thursday’s close were: Keppel REIT (5.9 per cent), Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (5.6 per cent), Mapletree Logistics Trust (5.5 per cent), CapitaLand India Trust (4.7 per cent), and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (3.8 per cent).

• Kopi-C with AIMS APAC REIT’s CEO: ‘Property is a people business’ Russell Ng, CEO of AIMS APAC REIT, believes that to build a strong foundation for growth, the quality of its portfolio and active stakeholder engagement goes hand in hand.
• That is the ethos adopted by AIMS APAC REIT (AA REIT) CEO Russell Ng, who has been steadily building on its real estate business, laying it out stone by stone, asset by asset.

For our next Corporate Webinar, we are glad to welcome KTMG Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Damien Lim. 

In the upcoming webinar, Damien will share a short company presentation after which, he will engage in a fireside chat with Smartkarma Insight Provider, Angus Mackintosh. The Corporate Webinar will include a live Q&A session.

The webinar will be hosted on Tuesday, 20 June 2023, 17:00 SGT/HKT.

About KTMG Limited

KTMG Limited (“KTMG” and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) is an integrated textile and apparel manufacturer.

KTMG is a contract manufacturer of apparel specialising in athleisure wear, casual wear, loungewear, and pyjamas for various ages, with facilities in Malaysia and Cambodia. The Group manufactures apparel for retailers in the United Kingdom, United States, European Union, and Canada, who then sell apparel products under their own brands. The Group has a co-creation business model through which it collaborates closely with its customers during the product initiation process, thereby offering customers a one-stop value-added platform.

In 2019, KTMG expanded upstream into the knitting, dyeing, and finishing of fabric, with its very own textile manufacturing facility in Johor, Malaysia.

• Oil is down dramatically from USD83.26 in April this year to USD67.37 now
• DBS saw a surge in NPLs in FY16 from the oil price decline in that time
• There appears to be some correlation between DBS and oil prices

• Thomson Medical Group Limited (TMG SP) has updated its future growth plan in Southeast Asia. The company is currently in preliminary confidential discussions to explore a potential transaction.
• Media reports suggest, Thomson Medical is eyeing a controlling stake in Vietnam-based leading multi-specialized tertiary care provider, FV Hospital for $300–400M.  
• Thomson Medical has a strong balance sheet, with cash reserve of S$143M, against debt of S$626M. Last month, the company has issued S$120M 5.5% notes due 2028.