SG Morning Highlights | SMEs' top priority for 2023 is ensuring cashflow and maintaining costs: survey
Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's Singapore:
●Singapore shares opened higher on Tuesday; STI up 0.95%
●Second Chance net profit for H1 2023 to 'increase significantly'
●Stocks to watch: Boustead Projects, Fortress Minerals, Second Chance, LMIRT, Soilbuild Construction
●Latest share buy back transactions
-moomoo News SG
Market Trend
Singapore shares opened higher on Tuesday. The $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index(.STI.SG$ gained 0.95 per cent to 3,169.47 as at 9.05am.
Advancers / Decliners is 113 to 42, with 92.07 million securities worth S$103.23 million changing hands.
Breaking News
Traders and economists remain split on whether the Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark policy rate on Wednesday (Mar 22), as more actions by the world's major central banks to stem banking strains and the fallout from the takeover of Credit Suisse kept markets on edge.
Prices of Fed funds futures reflected a roughly 65 per cent probability of a quarter-percentage point rate hike versus about a 35 per cent chance of no change as US markets opened on Monday, in line with similar expectations at the end of last week
The US central bank will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday as policymakers consider whether still too-hot inflation merits an interest rate hike or whether turmoil in financial markets outstrips those concerns. The Fed's current target range is 4.5 per cent-4.75 per cent.
Hong Kong's banking sector has "insignificant" exposure to troubled Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, the city's monetary authority said on Monday.
"The total assets of Credit Suisse AG, Hong Kong Branch amounted to about HK$100 billion (S$17 billion), representing less than 0.5 per cent of the total assets of the Hong Kong banking sector," the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement.
"The exposures of the local banking sector to Credit Suisse are insignificant." The announcement came after UBS announced on Sunday it would take over Swiss rival Credit Suisse for US$3.25 billion, following crunch talks aimed at stopping the stricken bank from triggering a wider international banking crisis.
Cashflow and costs remain the top priority for Singapore small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2023, with less than half being optimistic about growth, DBS' annual SME Pulse Check survey indicated on Monday (Mar 20).
That priority was cited by 62 per cent of respondents. It was followed by exploring new markets (33 per cent) and first-time overseas expansion (31 per cent).
Some 29 per cent of respondents prioritised hiring, retaining and upskilling manpower, while 25 per cent cited sustainability and greening their businesses, and 21 per cent cited digital transformation and innovating new business models.
Stocks to Watch
$Boustead Proj(AVM.SG$ : Shares of Boustead Projects are set to be suspended after Boustead Singapore announced in a bourse filing on Monday (Mar 20) that it has acquired about 91.74 per cent of its shares as at 6 pm.
This leaves the public owning only about 8.3 per cent of shares. Under the Singapore Exchange (SGX) free float requirement, an issuer must ensure that at least 10 per cent of the total number of issued shares are held by the public.
Once an issuer fails to meet that requirement, SGX may suspend its shares from trading, or give the issuer three months to raise the free float to at least 10 per cent, failing which it may be delisted.
$Second Chance(528.SG$ : Real estate company Second Chance Properties announced that the group's net profit for the first half of its financial year ending Feb 28, 2023, will "increase significantly" compared to the net profit of S$4.6 million a year ago, based on a preliminary review of unaudited financial statements.
It said in a bourse filing on Monday (Mar 20) that the expected increase in net profit is due to the sale of a few investment properties.
Gains of S$9.46 million have also been realised upon cash acquisition as well as disposal of a few equity instruments held by the group and classified as financial assets, at fair value through other comprehensive income.
$Lippo Malls Tr R1(SAMR.SG$ : The manager of Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) announced on Monday (Mar 20) that it will not pay its distribution, originally scheduled on Mar 27, to holders of its S$140 million perpetual securities issued in September 2016.
It said in a bourse filing that the issuer has no obligation to pay the March 2023 distribution and the unpaid sum is noncumulative and does not accrue distribution.
Unit holders of LMIRT, as well as those who bought its June 2017 perpetual securities worth S$120 million, are also at risk of not receiving any payments from the issuer.
$Soilbuild Const(S7P.SG$ : Construction company Soilbuild Construction said on Monday (Mar 20) that it will be applying to overturn an order from the Singapore Mediation Centre to pay close to S$1 million to its subcontractor. The amount will instead be paid to court as security, as it pursues further legal proceedings against the subcontractor.
It also added in a bourse filing that the outcome of this adjudication will not have a material impact on the financial position of the company for the financial year ending on Dec 31, 2023.
This is because a corresponding accrual for liabilities in relation to this matter has already been recognised in the group's full-year results for the previous year.
Latest Share Buy Back Transactions
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