Daily Brief Financials: CapitaLand Ascott Trust, SBFC Finance Limited, HSBC Holdings, S&P 500 INDEX, IP Group PLC, Uni Asia Holdings and more

• CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS SP) is looking to raise around S$200m from its primary follow-on. Included in the deal is another S$100m preferential offering to existing shareholders.
• Proceeds will be used towards acquiring three new properties, and for asset enhancement initiatives.
• The deal would be a relatively large one for the REIT to digest, at 31.6 days of three month ADV.

• SBFC Finance Limited (1547353D IN) IPO opens for subscription this week.
• The company has shown strong operations in F23, led by growth in overall business, productivity, profits on the back of controlled credit costs.
• There are however few cautions that warrant attention, which includes the litigations, attritions, write offs, etc.

• Realized/Unrealized gains on securities are increasingly oversized relative to profit
• In the latest quarter these are USD10.1bn compared with net profit of USD7.0bn
• HSBC’s credit costs rose over 100% both YoY and QoQ

• SBFC Finance Limited (1547353D IN) is looking to raise up to US$131m in its India IPO. 
• SBFC Finance is a systematically important, non-deposit taking non-banking finance company (NBFC-ND-SI), offering secured MSME Loans and Loans against Gold. 
• In our previous note, we looked at the company’s past performance. In this note, we talk about RHP updates, undertake a peer comparison and provide our thoughts on valuation.

• The S&P 500 INDEX rally that started in October 2022 is currently encountering some turbulence, possibly due to various factors including the recent US credit downgrade by Fitch.
• The current WEEKLY pullback may be an opportunity to accumulate LONG position, buy& hold trade.
• The price area to buy where is between 4540 and 4332: probability of the uptrend resuming from there is between 50% and 75% based on current pattern readings.

IP Group’s private portfolio valuations remained broadly stable in H123, with its c 4.1% NAV decline in total return (TR) terms mostly due to a de rating of listed holdings (Oxford Nanopore, ONT, in particular) and FX headwinds, though subsequently largely offset by a rebound in quoted holdings to date. IP Group’s holding-level liquidity remains firm and 84% of its direct portfolio holdings have a cash runway of 12 months or more. IP Group shares continue to trade at a wide 53% discount to NAV.

• kopi-C with Uni-Asia Group’s CFO: “Being small sets us apart” Uni-Asia Group Chief Financial Officer Lim Kai Ching explains how staying small and diversified has allowed the company to find a niche in shipping vessels and property investments.
• This is the belief of Mr.
• Lim Kai Ching, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Uni-Asia Group, an alternative investment company that has forged its specialty in niche assets within the property and shipping markets.