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 $2 million for the preceding five sessions. This keeps the net institutional outflow for the 2025 year to June 5 at S$1.76 billion. 

Institutional Flows 

Over the five trading sessions through to June 5, the stocks that saw the highest net institutional outflow were United Overseas Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Singapore Exchange, Jardine Matheson Holdings, Singtel, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, Singapore Technologies Engineering, ComfortDelGro Corporation and Mapletree Industrial Trust.

Meanwhile DBS Group Holdings, Singapore Airlines, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, Keppel, SATS, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, UOL Group, SIA Engineering Company, Thai Beverage Public Company, 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. 

Share Buybacks

The five sessions through to June 5 saw 19 primary-listed companies make buybacks with a total consideration of S$46.0 million. City Developments also announced its off-market buyback of 26,800,814, or 10 per cent, of its preference shares at S$0.78 apiece will be booked on June 10. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also continued to conducted share repurchases on four of the five sessions. 

Director Transactions

The five trading sessions spanning May 30 through to June 6 saw 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 Corporation, Singapore Telecommunications, Sinostar PEC Holdings, Stamford Land Corporation (SLC), SunMoon Food Company, TeleChoice International, Uni-Asia Group and Wing Tai Holdings. 

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 Pte Ltd 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 2–3 years, while the Chief Operating Officer also noted rising interest from AI-driven firms seeking its information management and treatment services.

Singapore Telecommunications

On June 5, Singapore Telecommunications 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, Singapore Telecommunications 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 May 2024, 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 Mr Iwabuchi’s direct interest in the company from 0.82 per cent to 1.40 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 ROE growth and close the NAV 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 aging ships—typically around 15 years old—with younger vessels between 7 to 10 years of age.

Digital Core REIT

On May 28, Digital Core Management Pte Ltd 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. Mr 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 1QFY25 (ended Mar 31) the Manager reported Digital Core REIT delivered strong execution with 10 per cent growth in distributable income from 1QFY24, 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 JPY 13 Billion (~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 Mr 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. Mr Ngo has gradually increased his total interest in the group from 82.93 per cent in August 2018. Mr Ngo noted that 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. Mr 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 Mr Fong highlighted a robust pipeline of upcoming and ongoing launches, with inventory expected to reach approximately 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. Mr Fong also maintained that revenue from these transactions is anticipated to be recognised in the first half of 2025.

Mr Fong leads the sales and leadership training initiatives, including the flagship PropNex bootcamp 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, bootcamps, 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, underscores 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 per cent to 61.85 per cent, through 100,000 shares bought by his spouse, Helen Chow.

Inside Insights is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.

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