Singapore Exchange 01 (May 08 - Jan 10)

[Musicwhiz]

Net profit may be flat, but I took a glance and cash flows are very healthy!

Thus, they can more than afford to pay a good dividend......

Not vested.

[kennynah]

that is if they do pay out a good dividend from the extra cash, unless they can justify hoarding it for a near future use...

[winston]

Singapore challenge for HKEx

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Singapore Exchange - Asia's second- largest listed bourse - is seeing better prospects for new listings and quarterly turnover, despite the challenge from rival Hong Kong which leads the race for IPOs.

SGX has struggled against bigger rival Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (0388) and other Asian bourses in attracting big initial public offerings, which analysts say is affecting its growth potential.

"Our stronger IPO pipeline suggests that the issuance side of our business is expected to see a better year across our markets and key sectors," chief executive Magnus Bocker said.

He said SGX is doing better against most global exchanges and remains an attractive market for new listings despite valuation comparisons against those listed on Hong Kong.

The IPO market came to life late last year when CapitaLand's shopping malls unit raised over US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) in Singapore's biggest listing in 16 years, but it has struggled to attract new mainland China listings.

"Really the challenge for them is to address the issue of Chinese listings," said an analyst at a foreign broker, who covers SGX.

SGX, which enjoys high operating margins and a successful derivatives business, said a lower interest rate environment would underpin strong turnover for both cash and derivatives trading in 2010. It said it earned S$71.8 million (HK$401.15 million) in the three months ended December 31 compared with S$74.7 million a year ago, as derivatives revenues fell.

Securities market revenue rose 18 percent on higher turnover from a year earlier at the height of the financial crisis, but net derivatives clearing revenue dropped 25 percent from a year ago due to lower futures clearing income.

SGX trades at a forward price-earnings ratio of around 22, compared with 33 for HKEx, Asia's largest listed bourse.

For the full year, SGX is expected to post a net profit of S$386.69 million, up 21 percent from a year earlier, according to the mean forecast of 16 analysts.

By comparison, HKEx could report that its profit fell 6 percent last year from 2008, according to analysts' consensus.

SGX shares are up 0.5 percent since the start of the year after posting a gain of 64 in 2009.

The Hong Kong bourse rose 89 percent last year. REUTERS


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 00119&fc=2

[winston]

Singapore Exchange sees better prospects for new listings and quarterly turnover, after posting a surprise 4 percent drop in second quarter profit to S$71.8 million on lower derivatives revenues and a one-time cost from changing its CEO

[LenaHuat]

Yo, Cherry I am certainly glad to hve Winston help answer your question. As I am too lazy to re-trace all my postings, I've decided to make public my late Oct 2008's pte msg with MM abt my reading of the market then :

Right now, I'm thinking very hard abt what will turnaround FIRST??
Banking?
O&M?
Property?
REITS, esp serviced apts??
Tourism?

I'm not likely to rush in until end 1Q 2009. Banking retrenchments will be severe and damaging in last Q 2008.

At that point in time, the crisis has been brewing for a year and America could hardly wait for the Obama team to take over. Obama has a very strong economic behind-the-scene team. Don't look out for Geithner. He's juz a smokescreen. It's Volcker and Summers that really pull their weight in Obama's team. I juz made an intelligent guess that it would take some 6 months from Oct 2008 for confidence to return to the fin sector.

Regarding SGX specifically, it's ETFs that could be the next board driver. After this crisis, I expect more local pte investors to actively manage their own $$. Who would easily trust those bankers/funds managers with their power dressing, sharp suits and sleek tongues? Pte individual investors do churn/trade more often. Moreover, SGX now permits 18-year olds to trade. More importantly, SGX is an index stock and a legalized 'casino'.

However, I would not consider SGX in isolation. One must take the lead from the US market.
Good luck from an otiose white swan

I have been keeping a watch on this 2-metre black swan for almost a whole year. Now he's showing us his hand. Regarding ETFs, I'm getting a little edgy abt the US ones.