Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

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In September, the STI edged 0.4% higher with dividends marginally improving the total return to 0.5%. This brought the STI’s total return for the first nine months of 2019 to 5.3%, while the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index almost doubled the STI’s gains with an 11.3% total return. 
	 </li>
	<li>
For the month of September, 23 primary-listed SGX stocks repurchased more than 30 million shares with a total consideration of S$15 million. This was down from S$70 million in August and down from S$94 million in Sept 2018. 
	 </li>
	<li>
September buyback consideration was led by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Stamford Land Corporation, Singapore Press Holdings, ST Engineering and Global Investments. Seven stocks initiated new buyback mandates. 
	 </li>
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Total share buyback consideration for month of September 2019 totaled S$14.9 million, the lowest consideration value for a month since December 2016. The month’s buyback was down from S$70.1 million in August and down from S$94 million in September 2018. There were 23 SGX primary-listed stocks that reported buybacks of their SGX-listings over the month, buying back a total of 49.7 million shares. 
 

Volatility gauges of the Straits Times Index (“STI”) that take into consideration the last 180 and 250 trading days have continued to trend lower since January. The 180 day historical volatility gauge for the STI has declined from 13.8% in December 2018 to 10.1% yesterday.  Select stocks have also seen short-term volatility gauges decline, such as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp seeing its 30 day historical volatility back at October 2017 levels. 
 

Last month, the STI edged 0.4% higher with dividend distributions from Venture Corporation and Genting Singapore marginally improving the STI total return to 0.5%. This brought the STI’s total return for the first nine months of 2019 to 5.3%. By comparison the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index generated an 11.3% total return, with the iEdge S-REIT Index generating a 25.9% total return over the nine months. 
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Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 30 Sept  2019)

 

Seven Stocks Commenced New Mandates in September 2019 

The table below summarises the buyback considerations in September 2019. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions. The seven stocks that commenced new mandates are highlighted in Bold.

<table class="table table-striped"><tbody>
<tr>
<td>
			Stocks
			</td>
			<td>
			Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate
			</td>
			<td>
			Sept 2019 Total Number of Shares/units Purchased
			</td>
			<td>
			Sept 2019 Total Buyback Consideration  (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares
			</td>
			<td>
			Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date*
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING (HOLDINGS)
			</td>
			<td>
			394,576,520
			</td>
			<td>
			5,000,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$4,670,740
			</td>
			<td>
			25,000,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			STAMFORD LAND CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			81,973,408
			</td>
			<td>
			4,062,800
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,965,093
			</td>
			<td>
			19,773,600
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			159,698,243
			</td>
			<td>
			939,500
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,829,054
			</td>
			<td>
			3,515,800
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING
			</td>
			<td>
			62,432,801
			</td>
			<td>
			400,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,555,995
			</td>
			<td>
			3,670,700
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			GLOBAL INVESTMENTS
			</td>
			<td>
			168,741,864
			</td>
			<td>
			10,949,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$1,493,282
			</td>
			<td>
			48,747,200
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SINGAPORE SHIPPING CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			42,417,689
			</td>
			<td>
			2,809,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$818,461
			</td>
			<td>
			7,364,800
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			REX INTERNATIONAL HOLDING
			</td>
			<td>
			129,122,045
			</td>
			<td>
			7,459,700
			</td>
			<td>
			$588,517
			</td>
			<td>
			13,187,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			CHINA SUNSINE CHEMICAL HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			49,131,170
			</td>
			<td>
			508,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$510,541
			</td>
			<td>
			3,087,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			HEALTHWAY MEDICAL CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			226,439,605
			</td>
			<td>
			14,066,700
			</td>
			<td>
			$348,427
			</td>
			<td>
			14,066,700
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			BREADTALK GROUP
			</td>
			<td>
			56,376,234
			</td>
			<td>
			495,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$312,402
			</td>
			<td>
			495,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			HRNETGROUP
			</td>
			<td>
			100,581,957
			</td>
			<td>
			280,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$163,392
			</td>
			<td>
			502,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			CDW HOLDING
			</td>
			<td>
			22,724,200
			</td>
			<td>
			645,500
			</td>
			<td>
			$124,075
			</td>
			<td>
			3,382,500
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			CHEUNG WOH TECHNOLOGIES
			</td>
			<td>
			30,189,290
			</td>
			<td>
			743,700
			</td>
			<td>
			$109,334
			</td>
			<td>
			1,780,300
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			FOOD EMPIRE HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			53,426,699
			</td>
			<td>
			200,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$100,812
			</td>
			<td>
			200,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			JAPFA
			</td>
			<td>
			186,466,879
			</td>
			<td>
			167,800
			</td>
			<td>
			$76,784
			</td>
			<td>
			1,330,500
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			STARBURST HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			12,114,546
			</td>
			<td>
			166,600
			</td>
			<td>
			$61,825
			</td>
			<td>
			166,600
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			TUAN SING HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			118,620,496
			</td>
			<td>
			175,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$58,851
			</td>
			<td>
			3,705,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			HONG FOK CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			86,147,124
			</td>
			<td>
			62,100
			</td>
			<td>
			$52,638
			</td>
			<td>
			2,355,300
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			EUROSPORTS GLOBAL
			</td>
			<td>
			26,220,160
			</td>
			<td>
			230,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$43,300
			</td>
			<td>
			230,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			STRACO CORPORATION
			</td>
			<td>
			86,411,428
			</td>
			<td>
			38,300
			</td>
			<td>
			$28,862
			</td>
			<td>
			100,800
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			SINGHAIYI GROUP
			</td>
			<td>
			421,905,217
			</td>
			<td>
			310,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$27,505
			</td>
			<td>
			310,000
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			GRP
			</td>
			<td>
			19,370,161
			</td>
			<td>
			20,000
			</td>
			<td>
			$3,545
			</td>
			<td>
			1,857,200
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			ANCHUN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
			</td>
			<td>
			5,008,260
			</td>
			<td>
			2,700
			</td>
			<td>
			$583
			</td>
			<td>
			2,700
			</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>
			Total
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
			<td>
			49,731,400
			</td>
			<td>
			$14,944,019
			</td>
			<td>
			 
			</td>
		</tr>
</tbody></table>
Percentage of company’s issued shares excluding treasury shares as at the date of the share buyback resolutions. 
Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 30 September 2019) 
 

Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they will be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Motivations for share buybacks can include employee compensation plans (such as share option schemes or employee share purchase plans) or long term capital management. 
 

The date of the relevant share buyback mandate is also provided in the table above, in addition to the amount of shares authorised to be bought back under the mandate. The total number of shares purchased under the mandate and the percentage of the companies that issued shares that have been repurchased under the mandate are also provided. 
 

Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market (click <a href="http://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/company_disclosure/company_announcements">here</a>). As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the two weeks immediately before its quarterly financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.
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In September, the STI edged 0.4% higher with dividends marginally improving the total return to 0.5%. This brought the STI’s total return for the first nine months of 2019 to 5.3%, while the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index almost doubled the STI’s gains with an 11.3% total return.  
	 
	
For the month of September, 23 primary-listed SGX stocks repurchased more than 30 million shares with a total consideration of S$15 million. This was down from S$70 million in August and down from S$94 million in Sept 2018. 
	 
	
September buyback consideration was led by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Stamford Land Corporation, Singapore Press Holdings, ST Engineering and Global Investments. Seven stocks initiated new buyback mandates.  
	 

Total share buyback consideration for month of September 2019 totaled S$14.9 million, the lowest consideration value for a month since December 2016. The month’s buyback was down from S$70.1 million in August and down from S$94 million in September 2018. There were 23 SGX primary-listed stocks that reported buybacks of their SGX-listings over the month, buying back a total of 49.7 million shares. 
 

Volatility gauges of the Straits Times Index (“STI”) that take into consideration the last 180 and 250 trading days have continued to trend lower since January. The 180 day historical volatility gauge for the STI has declined from 13.8% in December 2018 to 10.1% yesterday.  Select stocks have also seen short-term volatility gauges decline, such as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp seeing its 30 day historical volatility back at October 2017 levels. 
 

Last month, the STI edged 0.4% higher with dividend distributions from Venture Corporation and Genting Singapore marginally improving the STI total return to 0.5%. This brought the STI’s total return for the first nine months of 2019 to 5.3%. By comparison the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index generated an 11.3% total return, with the iEdge S-REIT Index generating a 25.9% total return over the nine months. 



      
    
    Monthly Share Buyback Consideration 


Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 30 Sept  2019)

 

Seven Stocks Commenced New Mandates in September 2019 

The table below summarises the buyback considerations in September 2019. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions. The seven stocks that commenced new mandates are highlighted in Bold.




			Stocks
			
			
			Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate
			
			
			Sept 2019 Total Number of Shares/units Purchased
			
			
			Sept 2019 Total Buyback Consideration  (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares
			
			
			Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date*
			
		


			YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING (HOLDINGS)
			
			
			394,576,520
			
			
			5,000,000
			
			
			$4,670,740
			
			
			25,000,000
			
		


			STAMFORD LAND CORPORATION
			
			
			81,973,408
			
			
			4,062,800
			
			
			$1,965,093
			
			
			19,773,600
			
		


			SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS
			
			
			159,698,243
			
			
			939,500
			
			
			$1,829,054
			
			
			3,515,800
			
		


			SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING
			
			
			62,432,801
			
			
			400,000
			
			
			$1,555,995
			
			
			3,670,700
			
		


			GLOBAL INVESTMENTS
			
			
			168,741,864
			
			
			10,949,000
			
			
			$1,493,282
			
			
			48,747,200
			
		


			SINGAPORE SHIPPING CORPORATION
			
			
			42,417,689
			
			
			2,809,000
			
			
			$818,461
			
			
			7,364,800
			
		


			REX INTERNATIONAL HOLDING
			
			
			129,122,045
			
			
			7,459,700
			
			
			$588,517
			
			
			13,187,000
			
		


			CHINA SUNSINE CHEMICAL HOLDINGS
			
			
			49,131,170
			
			
			508,000
			
			
			$510,541
			
			
			3,087,000
			
		


			HEALTHWAY MEDICAL CORPORATION
			
			
			226,439,605
			
			
			14,066,700
			
			
			$348,427
			
			
			14,066,700
			
		


			BREADTALK GROUP
			
			
			56,376,234
			
			
			495,000
			
			
			$312,402
			
			
			495,000
			
		


			HRNETGROUP
			
			
			100,581,957
			
			
			280,000
			
			
			$163,392
			
			
			502,000
			
		


			CDW HOLDING
			
			
			22,724,200
			
			
			645,500
			
			
			$124,075
			
			
			3,382,500
			
		


			CHEUNG WOH TECHNOLOGIES
			
			
			30,189,290
			
			
			743,700
			
			
			$109,334
			
			
			1,780,300
			
		


			FOOD EMPIRE HOLDINGS
			
			
			53,426,699
			
			
			200,000
			
			
			$100,812
			
			
			200,000
			
		


			JAPFA
			
			
			186,466,879
			
			
			167,800
			
			
			$76,784
			
			
			1,330,500
			
		


			STARBURST HOLDINGS
			
			
			12,114,546
			
			
			166,600
			
			
			$61,825
			
			
			166,600
			
		


			TUAN SING HOLDINGS
			
			
			118,620,496
			
			
			175,000
			
			
			$58,851
			
			
			3,705,000
			
		


			HONG FOK CORPORATION
			
			
			86,147,124
			
			
			62,100
			
			
			$52,638
			
			
			2,355,300
			
		


			EUROSPORTS GLOBAL
			
			
			26,220,160
			
			
			230,000
			
			
			$43,300
			
			
			230,000
			
		


			STRACO CORPORATION
			
			
			86,411,428
			
			
			38,300
			
			
			$28,862
			
			
			100,800
			
		


			SINGHAIYI GROUP
			
			
			421,905,217
			
			
			310,000
			
			
			$27,505
			
			
			310,000
			
		


			GRP
			
			
			19,370,161
			
			
			20,000
			
			
			$3,545
			
			
			1,857,200
			
		


			ANCHUN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
			
			
			5,008,260
			
			
			2,700
			
			
			$583
			
			
			2,700
			
		


			Total
			
			
			 
			
			
			49,731,400
			
			
			$14,944,019
			
			
			 
			
		

Percentage of company’s issued shares excluding treasury shares as at the date of the share buyback resolutions. 
Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 30 September 2019) 
 

Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they will be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Motivations for share buybacks can include employee compensation plans (such as share option schemes or employee share purchase plans) or long term capital management. 
 

The date of the relevant share buyback mandate is also provided in the table above, in addition to the amount of shares authorised to be bought back under the mandate. The total number of shares purchased under the mandate and the percentage of the companies that issued shares that have been repurchased under the mandate are also provided. 
 

Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market (click here). As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the two weeks immediately before its quarterly financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.



Buybacks Scale Back as Long Term Volatility Gauges Ease           