Institutions were net sellers for much of the second quarter of 2025, but sector flows were mixed, with financial services and Reits seeing the largest outflows, while telecommunications and industrials recorded notable inflows

 

[SINGAPORE] Over the four trading sessions from Jun 13 to 18, institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$42 million following the S$80 million net outflow in the preceding five sessions. This takes the net institutional outflow for the year to Jun 18 to S$1.88 billion.  

 

Institutional flows 

In the four trading sessions, the stocks with the highest net institutional outflow were DBS : D05 -0.11%, Singapore Airlines : C6L -0.59% (SIA), Wilmar International : F34 +0.34%, Singtel : Z74 -1.28%, OCBC : O39 -0.56%, Sats : S58 -1.32%, Mapletree Industrial Trust : ME8U -0.51%, UOL : U14 -0.34%, Riverstone : AP4 -2.24%, and DFI Retail Group : D01 -0.75%. 

 

Meanwhile, Keppel : BN4 +1.37%, Singapore Exchange : S68 -0.79% (SGX), ST Engineering : S63 +0.51%, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust : C38U 0%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding : BS6 0%, Jardine Matheson : J36 -0.17%, Mapletree Logistics Trust : M44U 0%, Rex International : 5WH +2.33%, Hongkong Land : H78 -1.79%, and Seatrium : 5E2 +0.98% led the net institutional inflow over the four sessions.

 

From a sector perspective, financial services and consumer non-cyclicals experienced the highest net institutional outflow, while industrials and real estate investment trusts (Reits) had the most net institutional inflow. 

 

Singtel leads net institutional inflows in Q2 2025

Institutions were net sellers for much of the second quarter of 2025, but sector flows were mixed, with financial services and Reits seeing the largest outflows, while telecommunications and industrials &ndash led by Singtel, SIA, Keppel, and ST Engineering &ndash recorded notable inflows. 

 

From end-2023 to Jun 18, Singtel led net institutional inflows into the local market with S$1.6 billion, while its Straits Times Index weight rose from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. Its total return ranked it as the second-best performer in the Dow Jones Sector Titans Telecommunication Index.

 

Earlier this month, Gerald Wong, founder of financial advisory platform Beansprout, interviewed Singtel&rsquo s group chief financial officer Arthur Lang to discuss the company&rsquo s recent momentum. Lang noted that profit growth in FY2025 was driven by strong execution across core business units, with subsidiaries Optus and NCS achieving earnings before interest and taxes expansion of 55 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.

 

He also highlighted the &ldquo Singtel28&rdquo strategy&rsquo s focus on lifting business performance by strengthening the company&rsquo s core connectivity businesses, and scaling growth areas such as IT services and digital infrastructure. For instance, its data centre arm, Nxera, is expanding rapidly with support from a partnership with KKR, enabling regional growth with partial funding from external capital.

 

Lang also highlighted that longstanding regional partnerships and active capital management to fund growth and boost shareholder returns continue to position Singtel for long-term resilience.

 

Share buybacks

In the four sessions, 15 primary-listed companies made buybacks with a total consideration of S$61.8 million. DBS, UOB : U11 +0.52% and OCBC again led the consideration tally, collectively buying back S$58.9 million of shares.

 

On their current buyback mandates, UOB has bought back 0.35 per cent of its outstanding shares, DBS has repurchased 0.22 per cent, and OCBC has bought back 0.06 per cent, as at Jun 18.

 

Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also continued to conduct share repurchases over the four sessions.

 

Director transactions

The four trading sessions saw a bit of a pause in director interests and substantial shareholdings filings. There were fewer than 40 filings for 20 primary-listed stocks. Directors or chief executive officers filed six acquisitions and two disposals, while substantial shareholders filed one acquisition and two disposals.

 

These included director or CEO acquisitions in CosmoSteel : B9S 0%, Hyphens Pharma International : 1J5 +1.64%, Mencast : 5NF 0% and SunMoon Food Company : AAJ +6.25%.   

Between Dec 22 and Jan 3, SunMoon Food : AAJ 0% non-independent and non-executive director Song Xiao Jun acquired 1,729,400 shares at S$0.023 per share. With a consideration of S$39,777, this increased his direct interest in the company from 1.44 per cent to 1.64 per cent. Song is also deemed interested in 13.84 per cent of the shares in SunMoon Food, held by Champion Financial (Hong Kong), bringing his total interest to 15.48 per cent. Song is experienced in supply chain management and has held management positions in this industry for close to 10 years. He also has the relevant experience in the food services business since year 2020 and is currently the director of Champion Financial (Hongkong).

 

Back in November, SunMoon Food Company reported group gross profit for H1FY23/24 (ended Sep 30) of S$504,000, with a gross margin of 3.69 per cent, compared to gross profit of $780,000 with a gross margin of 3.89 per cent for its H1FY22/23. The decrease in gross profit was mainly attributed to the decreased sales in fruits and seafood. Zhang Ye, the CEO of the consumer-focused distributor and marketer of branded high-quality fruits, vegetables and products, noted in July that after three difficult years of the pandemic, the group is finally able to witness the slow and gradual return to new normality. He added that although there are many challenges lurking in the world&rsquo s economies and trade orders, the company was still confident of climbing up to a new level.

Between Aug 28 and 31, SunMoon Food Company non-independent and non-executive director Song XiaoJun acquired 2,055,500 shares at an average price of S$0.02 per share. With a consideration of S$41,523, this increased his total interest in the consumer-focused distributor and marketer of branded high-quality fruits and vegetables from 13.94 per cent to 14.0 per cent.

 

Song is experienced in supply chain management, and he has held management positions in the industry for nine years. In addition, he also has relevant experience in the food services business since year 2020 and is currently the director of Champion Financial (Hongkong).

 

Back in May, SunMoon Food Company reported its group revenue for FY23 (ended Mar 31) was S$42.4 million, up 8.8 per cent from FY22, mainly due to the increase in sales of fruits and seafood.

 

In FY24, the group is continuing to focus on the export of products (including Chinese fresh fruits) from China to South-east Asian markets and the import of products (including fresh produce) to China market.

 

SunMoon Food Company operates from dual headquarters in both Singapore and Shanghai. The company also maintains a strategy that focuses on two main product categories of Fuji apple and Pangasius fish.

 

SunMoon Food Company is expected to release its H1FY24 financial results on or before Nov 14.

Between Aug 28 and 31, SunMoon Food Company non-independent and non-executive director Song XiaoJun acquired 2,055,500 shares at an average price of S$0.02 per share. With a consideration of S$41,523, this increased his total interest in the consumer-focused distributor and marketer of branded high-quality fruits and vegetables from 13.94 per cent to 14.0 per cent.

 

Song is experienced in supply chain management, and he has held management positions in the industry for nine years. In addition, he also has relevant experience in the food services business since year 2020 and is currently the director of Champion Financial (Hongkong).

 

Back in May, SunMoon Food Company reported its group revenue for FY23 (ended Mar 31) was S$42.4 million, up 8.8 per cent from FY22, mainly due to the increase in sales of fruits and seafood.

 

In FY24, the group is continuing to focus on the export of products (including Chinese fresh fruits) from China to South-east Asian markets and the import of products (including fresh produce) to China market.

 

SunMoon Food Company operates from dual headquarters in both Singapore and Shanghai. The company also maintains a strategy that focuses on two main product categories of Fuji apple and Pangasius fish.

 

SunMoon Food Company is expected to release its H1FY24 financial results on or before Nov 14.

Gary Loh, a former stockbroker who used to control and chair Sunmoon Food Holdings, saw a decrease in his stake in the company. On July 14, First Alverstone Capital, which is holding the stake on behalf of Loh, sold 20 million shares for some $499,244 to an unnamed entity through a married deal. This works out to around 2.5 cents each.

 

First Alverstone is holding the stake on behalf of Loh. His wife Selena Cheng Koh Min has a beneficial interest in the stake too. With the sale, First Alverstone&rsquo s stake in Sunmoon Food has dropped from 59.7 million shares or 6.61% to 39.7 million shares or 4.4%.

 

As the stake is now below the 5% mark, Sunmoon Food is no longer obliged to make further disclosures when Loh further trims his stake.

 

Loh was executive chairman of Sunmoon from October 2013 to August 2017 until the new controlling shareholder, Yiguo, a China-based fresh food e-commerce retailer, came on board and Loh became the deputy chairman. Loh was then redesignated as a non-executive director on April 2019 before fully stepping down after his resignation on July 1 to &ldquo pursue his personal interest&rdquo .

 

For the year ended March 31, Sunmoon Food reported revenue of $42.4 million, up 9% y-o-y. However, losses widened from $608,000 to $955,000, partly because the company sold some of its products at below cost in its key market China because of &ldquo depressed overall market prices&rdquo .

 

In its earnings commentary, Sunmoon warns that operating conditions will continue to be challenging because of a slowing world economy. It says it will focus on the export of fresh fruits from China to Southeast Asia and the import of fresh produce to China.

 

The company also says it will continue to sell its two key products: Fuji apple and Pangasius fish. &ldquo Barring unforeseen circumstances, we believe that we will be able to see growth in top-line revenues for the financial year,&rdquo says Sunmoon.