Latest news with #LohBoonChye
Zawya
08-08-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Singapore Exchange posts record profit, sees strongest IPO pipeline in years
SINGAPORE - Singapore Exchange (SGX) reported on Friday its highest annual earnings since its 2000 listing and said more than 30 companies are actively preparing to go public, signaling a revival in listings amid efforts to boost the country's equities market. Adjusted net profit for the year ended June rose 15.9% to S$609.5 million ($475.2 million), driven by higher trading volumes across equities, currencies and commodities, according to SGX. Revenue climbed 11.7% to S$1.30 billion. "Our IPO pipeline is the strongest in years," CEO Loh Boon Chye told Reuters after the earnings release on Friday. "A pipeline in our definition is not about marketing to a prospect," he said. "Our pipeline is more refined, they are companies that have really considered that IPO is a route and have engaged advisers to do that." SGX declared a final quarterly dividend of 10.5 Singapore cents per share, up from 9 cents a year earlier, and said it plans to raise dividends by 0.25 cents each quarter from FY2026 to FY2028. Shares of SGX dropped 2.5% on Friday, but have gained about 25% year-to-date, LSEG data showed. The domestic benchmark stock index declined almost 0.8% on the day, but has climbed over 11% year-to-date. There is growing interest from companies seeking to list on SGX, after the city-state announced measures in February to strengthen its equities market, including a 20% tax rebate for primary listings. In July, Singapore's central bank said it will place S$1.1 billion with three asset managers as part of a S$5 billion programme under the measures to boost the stock market. Recent listings in July include NTT DC REIT, which raised $773 million in Singapore's largest IPO since 2021, and a secondary listing by Hong Kong-listed China Medical System . Loh said SGX's multi-asset platform is well-positioned to capture shifting investor flows amid global volatility triggered by heightened geopolitical and trade tensions, including the tariff war under U.S. President Donald Trump 's administration. SGX also plans to expand Singapore Depository Receipts (SDRs) programme, investment products that allow investors to buy shares of overseas companies directly on SGX, beyond Thailand and Hong Kong currently, Loh said. "We look to launch SDR with Indonesia underlying in the next few months," he said. "We hope to progress with that to other ASEAN markets like Vietnam." ($1 = 1.2826 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Leroy Leo and Kim Coghill)
Reuters
08-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Singapore Exchange posts record profit, sees strongest IPO pipeline in years
SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange (SGX) ( opens new tab reported on Friday its highest annual earnings since its 2000 listing and said more than 30 companies are actively preparing to go public, signaling a revival in listings amid efforts to boost the country's equities market. Adjusted net profit for the year ended June rose 15.9% to S$609.5 million ($475.2 million), driven by higher trading volumes across equities, currencies and commodities, according to SGX. Revenue climbed 11.7% to S$1.30 billion. "Our IPO pipeline is the strongest in years," CEO Loh Boon Chye told Reuters after the earnings release on Friday. "A pipeline in our definition is not about marketing to a prospect," he said. "Our pipeline is more refined, they are companies that have really considered that IPO is a route and have engaged advisers to do that." SGX declared a final quarterly dividend of 10.5 Singapore cents per share, up from 9 cents a year earlier, and said it plans to raise dividends by 0.25 cents each quarter from FY2026 to FY2028. Shares of SGX dropped 2.5% on Friday, but have gained about 25% year-to-date, LSEG data showed. The domestic benchmark stock index (.STI), opens new tab declined almost 0.8% on the day, but has climbed over 11% year-to-date. There is growing interest from companies seeking to list on SGX, after the city-state announced measures in February to strengthen its equities market, including a 20% tax rebate for primary listings. In July, Singapore's central bank said it will place S$1.1 billion with three asset managers as part of a S$5 billion programme under the measures to boost the stock market. Recent listings in July include NTT DC REIT ( opens new tab, which raised $773 million in Singapore's largest IPO since 2021, and a secondary listing by Hong Kong-listed China Medical System ( opens new tab. Loh said SGX's multi-asset platform is well-positioned to capture shifting investor flows amid global volatility triggered by heightened geopolitical and trade tensions, including the tariff war under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. SGX also plans to expand Singapore Depository Receipts (SDRs) programme, investment products that allow investors to buy shares of overseas companies directly on SGX, beyond Thailand and Hong Kong currently, Loh said. "We look to launch SDR with Indonesia underlying in the next few months," he said. "We hope to progress with that to other ASEAN markets like Vietnam." ($1 = 1.2826 Singapore dollars)
Business Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
NTT DC Reit, SGX's largest Reit listing in 10 years, closes flat on debut
[SINGAPORE] Units of NTT DC Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) ended flat on its debut on Monday (Jul 14). Units of the Reit inched up 3 per cent or US$0.03 to US$1.03 at 2pm, before falling back to their offer price of US$1 by the trading day's end. The mega listing is the largest Reit IPO on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in a decade. NTT DC Reit has an IPO market capitalisation of US$1 billion and is the third pure-play data centre Reit listed in Singapore. The listing also marks one of Asia's largest data centre Reit IPOs, expanding opportunities for investors to gain exposure to assets driving the boom in artificial intelligence. Speaking at the listing ceremony, Loh Boon Chye, the chief executive officer of SGX Group, said NTT DC Reit's listing reinforces Singapore's role as Asia's Reit 'launchpad'. He noted that following the move, other issuers are 'picking up the pace' for their own listings. 'Conversations are building, pipelines are forming, and confidence is gaining ground, driven by listings like this,' he added. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Doug Adams, CEO of NTT Global Data Centres, said that while NTT DC Reit had considered listing in US and Japan, it eventually decided on Singapore due to its 'vibrant economic economic community' and support for Reit structures. 'We are looking to continue to feed this Reit with strong global assets from the right markets that we believe will give a significant return to our investors… to get a dependable return from their investment.' NTT Global Data Centres is the data centre business arm of NTT Group, which the Reit sponsor is part of. NTT DC Reit's portfolio comprises six data centres – four in the US, one in Austria and one in Singapore – with an aggregate appraised value of US$1.6 billion. About 600 million units are on offer, comprising US$1 per unit for 569.9 million units in its international placement, and 30 million units at S$1.276 per unit for the Singapore public offer. According to a bourse filing on Friday, the public tranche of its Singapore IPO was around 9.8 times oversubscribed, where there were 14,166 valid applications for an aggregate of 294.8 million units, based on the 30 million units available for subscription. A group of cornerstone investors will subscribe to over 172 million units in total, representing 16.8 per cent of all units. This runs concurrently, but separately, from the public offering. One of these anchor investors is GIC, which is subscribing to more than 100 million units making up 9.8 per cent of the total units in issue after the offering. With the Reit's listing, GIC is now a substantial unit holder as well as the second-largest investor in NTT DC Reit after its sponsor. The other cornerstone investors are AM Squared, Ghisallo Master Fund, Hazelview Securities, Pinpoint Asset Management (Singapore), Viridian Asset Management and UBS acting through its Singapore branch, on behalf of wealth management customers. In its prospectus, NTT DC Reit noted that the global data centre market has demonstrated high growth, with commissioned power growing from 18.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2020 to 49.1GW in 2024. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 28.1 per cent, and estimates are for it to continue growing at double-digit pace until 2027. NTT DC Reit joins Digital Core Reit , which listed in December 2021, and Keppel DC Reit , which rejoined the Straits Times Index last month. In total, the pure-play data centre S-Reits listed on SGX provide investors with exposure to around S$9 billion of global data centre assets. There are now 41 Reits and property trusts listed on the SGX, with a collective market capitalisation of about S$94 billion. 'The listing taps into the immense growth potential of data centres, an asset class gaining strong investor interest globally,' said Pol de Win, head of global sales and origination at SGX Group. 'This move underscores Singapore's position as Asia's leading Reit hub. Not only does this reflect the strength of our market, but also expands investment opportunities in digital infrastructure for investors worldwide.'
