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Business Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Wee Hur jumps 6.5%; shares soar over 15% this week on Australia lifting foreign student cap
[SINGAPORE] Shares of student acccommodation operator Wee Hur rose on Wednesday (Aug 6), following news that Australia will raise its cap on foreign students in 2026. As at 1.57 pm, the counter was trading at S$0.74, with around 14.6 million shares changing hands. This was 6.5 per cent or S$0.045 above its Tuesday closing price of S$0.695. ShareInvestor data indicates this is the highest price Wee Hur has reached since 2013. By 2.12 pm, it had eased slightly to S$0.735, still up from Tuesday's close by 5.8 per cent or S$0.04, with some 14.8 million shares transacted. The stock is up more than 15 per cent since the start of the trading week. On Monday, the Australian government announced that the country would raise its cap on foreign students by 9 per cent to 295,000 next year and prioritise applicants from South-east Asia. In the year to date, the counter has risen 76.2 per cent, from S$0.42 on the last trading day of 2024. 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 Wee Hur has eight facilities for purpose-built student accommodation in Australia. It is one of 30 Singapore-listed stocks in the portfolio of US-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF. As of Monday, the ETF had increased its stake in Wee Hur to 22.4 million shares, from 21.4 million shares on Jul 24. Foreign student cap relaxed Nearly 600,000 student visas were granted in Australia in FY2023. International students flocked to the country in record numbers following the Covid-19 pandemic, with those from China and India forming the largest cohorts. Limits on places for foreign students were announced in 2024. The Australian government also more than doubled the foreign student visa fee and swore to close loopholes permitting students to continuously extend their stays. But the Australian government on Monday said an additional 25,000 places will be granted in 2026. International Education Assistant Minister Julian Hill noted that the measures to curb migration were 'bearing fruit', allowing for the cap to be moderately raised next year, Reuters reported. Around two-thirds of places will be allocated to universities, and one-third to the vocational skills training sector. Additionally, larger, public universities must demonstrate that domestic and international students have 'access to safe and secure housing' and recruit more students from South-east Asia, the Australian government said. As Australia seeks to reduce economic reliance on China, South-east Asia relations have been a focus of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government. Hill noted that it was important for Australia's 'future soft power' that the country 'continue to bring the best and brightest from (its South-east Asian) neighbours to have a bit of Australia with them for the rest of their life'. Goh Wee Ping, chief executive of Wee Hur's fund management business, Wee Hur Capital, said: 'The government's decision to link international student intake with dedicated student accommodation is a smart and necessary step.' Beds offered by the student accommodation operator ease pressure on the private rental market, he added. 'This policy clarity gives providers like us the confidence to accelerate our pipeline, working alongside universities and cities to ensure international education growth is supported by purpose-built infrastructure – not squeezed into an already tight housing market.'
Business Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore's STI hits new high as investors flee to safe havens amid global risks
[SINGAPORE] The Straits Times Index (STI) briefly notched a new record of 4,008.15 points on Wednesday (Jul 2) as Singapore draws a rush of investors seeking safe havens from geopolitical risks. This is the second time the benchmark index has crossed the 4,000 threshold. The STI previously hit a record of 4,005.18 on Mar 28 before closing the day at 3,972.43. The Singapore market has been outperforming global stocks through the year, Morgan Stanley analysts noted in the Singapore Equity Strategy Mid-year Outlook released in May. As at Wednesday, the index has gained about 5.7 per cent since the beginning of 2025 – bringing its year-to-date gains slightly over that of the S&P 500, which is up by around 5.4 per cent since the start of the year. 'The STI has held up (in the) year to date despite global volatility. Worsening US policy uncertainty, slower China growth and the intensifying hostilities in the Middle East (are) likely to bolster safe-haven flows to Singapore,' Maybank said in a Jun 27 report. 'Indeed, so far this year, defensive sectors such as telcos and utilities have seen the strongest outperformance. At the same time, flows rotating out of the banks seem to have plateaued (following massive inflows in 2024 to play the interest rate hike cycle), while outflows from real estate investment trusts seem to have also bottomed,' it added. The STI took a harsh beating earlier on in April, when US President Donald Trump's announcement of his Liberation Day tariffs roiled global markets. The index plummeted to an intra-day low of 3372.380 on Apr 9 – an 11 per cent year-to-date loss, ShareInvestor data showed. However, the index has since made steady recovery, as the city-state's safe-haven status remains intact. Favoured for its defensive qualities, Singapore continues to be one of investors' preferred choices among Asian markets, ranking behind India, said Morgan Stanley analysts.
Business Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding down 6.1% amid steep fall in Q1 order wins
[SINGAPORE] Shares of Chinese vesselmaker Yangzijiang Shibuilding fell on Friday (May 23) as its Q1 order wins plunged to US$300 million from US$3.3 billion in the year-ago period. After the midday trading break at 1.05 pm, the counter fell to S$2.01, down by 6.1 per cent or S$0.13 from its Thursday closing price of S$2.14, with some 28 million shares changing hands. This is the lowest price the counter has hit in May, ShareInvestor data shows. It remained at S$2.03 as at 3.09 pm, with around 36.2 million shares having been transacted. The marine vessel manufacturer on Thursday reported that its order wins for the first quarter of 2025 amounted to six vessels – around 5 per cent of its US$6 billion target for FY2025. This was a steep drop from its order wins for the corresponding year-ago period, when it bagged orders for 38 vessels – nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of its target for that fiscal year. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has been caught in the crossfire of US-China tensions this year. Shares of the counter have been battered ever since the US Trade Representative (USTR) office in February proposed fees of up to US$1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering US ports, sparking a massive sell-off that wiped close to a billion dollars off its value. The counter closed at S$3.22 on Feb 21 before the USTR's proposal.
Business Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding down 5.1% amid steep fall in Q1 order wins
[SINGAPORE] Shares of Chinese vesselmaker Yangzijiang Shibuilding fell on Friday (May 23) as its Q1 order wins plunged to US$300 million, a marked fall from US$3.3 billion in the year-ago period. As at 11.23am, the counter fell to S$2.03, down by 5.1 per cent or S$0.11 from its Thursday closing price of S$2.14, with 21.8 million shares changing hands. This is the lowest price the counter has hit in May, ShareInvestor data shows. It remained at S$2.03 as at the midday trading break, with some 25 million shares having been transacted. The marine vessel manufacturer on Thursday reported that its order wins for the first quarter of 2025 amounted to six vessels – around 5 per cent of its US$6 billion target for FY2025. This was a steep drop from its order wins for the corresponding year-ago period, when it bagged orders for 38 vessels – nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of its target for that fiscal year.
Business Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Singtel jumps 3.6% on S$0.10 per share dividend, S$2 billion share buyback plan
[SINGAPORE] Shares of Singtel rose on Thursday (May 22) morning after the telco giant announced a final dividend of S$0.10 per share and initiated its first share buyback programme of up to S$2 billion. As at 11.21 am, the counter climbed to S$3.99, 3.6 per cent or S$0.14 higher than its Wednesday closing price of S$3.85, with 30.1 million shares changing hands, ShareInvestor data showed. This is the highest price Singtel shares have risen to in more than five years – the last time this happened was in 2017. By 1.24 pm, the counter had eased back down to S$3.96, still up by 2.9 per cent or S$0.11, with 35.3 million shares transacted. On Thursday, Singtel returned to the black with S$2.8 billion net profit for its second half ended March. The telco proposed a final dividend of S$0.10 per share. It also disclosed plans to repurchase S$2 billion worth of shares in the open market as part of its capital management strategy; this maiden share buyback programme will be executed over three years, until FY2028. Repurchased shares will be cancelled, and funding for the programme will be underpinned by excess capital from Singtel's asset-recycling proceeds. Under its Singtel28 growth plan, the company is raising to S$9 billion its mid-term asset-recycling target that it set at S$6 billion in May 2024.
