OCBC & UOB help the STI add 8 points or 0.17% at 4,531.36

Date: December 8, 2025

• DBS fell but gains in UOB & OCBC help the STI add 0.17%
• Wall St – all major indices posted gains, market expecting a rate cut on Wed
• Offer made to take LKH private at S$0.72 per share
• Manulife US REIT proposes strategic shift to retail, industrial sectors
• Cordlife faces S$5.45 million civil claim from clients over damaged cord blood units
• FTSE ST Industrials index up 40% so far in 2025: SGX Research

 

Underpinned by a relatively benign Wall Street the Straits Times Index managed a gain of about 8 points or 0.17% over the week at 4,531.36, albeit in slightly lower volume, probably because of the upcoming holiday season.

Average daily turnover was S$1.3b versus S$1.4-1.5b in the preceding two weeks despite the debuts of UltraGreen.ai on the mainboard and Infinity Development on Catalist.

Among the banks, OCBC stood out with a S$0.42 or 2.3% rise to S$18.92 and UOB with a S$0.55 or 1.6% gain at S$34.52. DBS in the meantime, slipped S$0.04 to S$54.16.

Wall St – all major indices posted gains, market expecting a rate cut on Wed

Wall Street kicked off December with a volatile first week of trading. The three major averages saw range-bound moves in each session but eventually ended up positive for the week on Friday, in a pattern that matches historical trading trends during this holiday time of the year.

For the week, the S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5% whilst tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9%.

As of Friday, the market was pricing in an 86% chance of a 25-basis points interest rate cut on Wednesday.

Offer made to take LKH private at S$0.72 per share

The majority shareholders of Low Keng Huat (Singapore) (LKH) have launched a voluntary conditional general offer to take the mainboard-listed construction and property developer private at S$0.72 per share.

The offer is being made through a special purpose vehicle, Consistent Record, which is effectively controlled by managing director Marco Low Peng Kiat and his family.

News of the offer pushed the company’s share price up by 17.1% or S$0.105 to S$0.72 to match the offer price when the market opened on Monday.

The offer is conditional upon Low receiving acceptances that would result in it holding not less than 90% of the total voting rights, excluding shares already held by the offeror and its concert parties.

As at the announcement date, Low has a deemed interest of about 54.13 per cent of the company’s total shares.

Low intends to delist the company to save on compliance costs and gain greater flexibility to manage the business amid a “challenging macro and operating environment”.

“The group’s three main business segments, namely, property development, the ownership and operation of serviced apartments and hotels, and property investments are capital-intensive activities that involve typically long gestation periods and significant risks,” the release read, noting the company’s irregular returns.

Manulife US REIT proposes strategic shift to retail, industrial sectors

The manager of the pure-play US office real estate investment trust (REIT) Manulife REIT outlined plans to revitalise its portfolio by diversifying into industrial, living-sector, and retail assets in the US and Canada a move that comes amid continued headwinds in the US office sector.

To execute this pivot, the manager is seeking unitholder approval for a disposition mandate and an acquisition mandate that will run from Jan 1, 2026, to Apr 30, 2027.

The disposition authorises the sale of up to three existing properties to raise aggregate net proceeds not exceeding US$350 million. Proceeds are intended to be used to acquire new assets, repay debt, and fund capital expenditures, tenant incentives and leasing cost requirements.

The acquisition authorises investments in the new asset classes with an aggregate agreed property value not exceeding US$600 million.

An extraordinary general meeting will be convened to seek approval for these resolutions on Dec 16. The two resolutions are inter-conditional – in the event that either fails, the remaining one will not proceed. In this case, each of the resolutions must be passed by more than 50% of the total number of votes cast.

The Reit has been operating under a master restructuring agreement (MRA) since a covenant breach in 2023.

While the Reit has raised US$273.1 million from asset sales, it remains about US$55.6 million short of the mandatory debt repayment target (US$328.7 million) required by Dec 31, 2025, to avoid potential foreclosure.

The manager has negotiated conditional MRA concessions that extend the disposal deadline to Jun 30, 2026, and temporarily relax gearing limits to 80% from 60% previously. A bank interest coverage ratio covenant from two times to 1.5 times until Dec 31, 2026, has also been negotiated.

Cordlife faces S$5.45 million civil claim from clients over damaged cord blood units

Beleaguered blood bank operator Cordlife Group is facing claims of at least S$5.45 million in damages from clients who stored 109 cord blood units (CBUs) with the company.

The claimants want Cordlife declared liable for loss and damage arising from negligence or breach of contract, and “causing irreparable damage” due to its failure to properly store and preserve the CBUs.

The suit also seeks damages of S$50,000 per damaged unit. Based on the 109 units involved, the company estimates the total claims to be at least S$5.45 million.

Alternatively, the claimants are seeking a refund of all storage fees paid to date, or an order for the assessment of damages.

Cordlife noted that members of this claimant group are clients whose units were stored in tanks later labelled as “damaged” and “high risk”.

They are part of the same group that had previously issued a letter of demand on 28 March 2025 through their solicitors.

The company is currently seeking legal advice on its next steps. While the board is still assessing the financial impact, it warned that an order to pay the claims would hurt the group’s financials for the year ending Dec 31.

Cordlife added that the claims relate solely to its operations in Singapore, and the group remains in full operation in other geographical markets.

CapitaLand Ascott Trust and Sheng Siong join STI reserve list

Hospitality player CapitaLand Ascott Trust and supermarket chain operator Sheng Siong Group will be joining the Straits Times Index’s (STI) reserve list, following the December quarterly review.

They will take the place of two companies that will be exiting: food and agricultural giant Olam Group and investment management company Yangzijiang Financial, which were added to the list in the September 2025 review.

There will be no changes to the constituents of the STI after the latest review, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said.

The STI reserve list is made up of the five highest-ranking non-constituents of the STI by market capitalisation.

Stocks on the reserve list replace STI constituents that become ineligible as a result of corporate action before the next quarterly review.

The other three companies on the reserve list are Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust (Keppel Reit), NetLink NBN Trust and Suntec Reit.

FTSE ST Industrials index up 40% so far in 2025: SGX Research

In a 2 Dec Market Update, SGX Research said the FTSE ST Industrials Index has generated a 36% total return over the first 11 months of 2025, with dividends lifting the total return to 40.7% and that target price upgrades among the index constituents have driven the consensus estimate target price for the Index up 33% this year, rising from 777.9 to 1,031.9.

“The 16 constituents of the FTSE ST Industrials Index booked S$269 million of combined net institutional inflow over the first 11 months of 2025. Paralleling the Index gains, the median/average total return of the 16 constituents was 30%/41%’’.

“The median ROE (return on equity) of the 16 stocks stood at 9.2% as of Nov 30, and the median P/E had expanded to 16.8x as of Nov 30, compared to 9.5x at the end of June’’ reported SGX Research, adding that Hong Leong Asia topped the Index with a 141% return on S$53 million inflows.

UltraGreen.ai debuted with 4.8% rise; Infinity Development closed flat

UltraGreen.ai debuted on the mainboard on Tuesday and closed at US$1.52, up 4.8% or US$0.07 from its offer price of US$1.45, with over 36.2 million shares transacted. It finished the week at US$1.44.

UltraGreen.ai develops fluorescence-guided surgery technology, offers fluorescence imaging services and supplies indocyanine green dyes used in surgical procedures. It represents the kind of high-tech players that investors want listed on the local bourse.

The initial public offering (IPO) is the largest one since 2017, outside of real estate investment trust (Reit) listings. It raised US$150 million and debuted with a market capitalisation of US$1.6 billion.

UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH) initiated coverage on UltraGreen.ai with a “buy” call, citing its market dominance in supplying indocyanine green (ICG) used in surgical procedures, and potential for “strong earnings growth”.

The brokerage assigned the stock a target price of US$2, which is pegged to a 26 times price-to-earnings (PE) ratio based on UOBKH’s FY2026 projections.

UltraGreen.ai trades at a 17.1 times PE ratio, compared with its peers’ average of 32 times, the analysts added.

On Wednesday, adhesive manufacturer Infinity Development debuted on Catalist and closed flat at S$0.39 with 4.7m traded. It had offered 35.1 million placement shares at S$0.39 apiece. It ended the week at S$0.39.