Singapore's Shrinking Stock Market May Turn Around Its Fortunes

Julia Cristina Silvi Fioretti

31 Jul 2019, 02:53 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s shrinking stock market has seen more companies leave its stock exchange than join in the past five years. But a resurgence of initial share sales and placements on the exchange may help turn around its fortunes.

Companies have raised $1.49 billion in placements so far this year, more than the $1.3 billion raised in the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. IPOs have picked up too, with $1.67 billion of initial share sales so far this year, more than the total amount fetched in 2018.

The largest IPO this year in Singapore was by Prime U.S. REIT, which raised $612 million. But beyond IPO volumes -- which still remain below an average of $2 billion per year since 2000 -- companies in Singapore, particularly real estate investment trusts, have been selling new shares to raise cash.

Singapore's Shrinking Stock Market May Turn Around Its Fortunes

Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust was the latest REIT to sell shares in a placement on Monday, raising $258 million. Indeed most of the companies that sold additional shares this year are REITs, such as Cromwell European Real Estate and CapitaLand Commercial Trust.

Driving the placement activity might be the buoyant stock market. The FTSE Straits Times Real Estate Investment Trust Index has risen 17% this year and is trading close to its highest level since the financial crisis. REITs, which need money to make property investments, are taking advantage of high share prices to keep selling more shares.
UPCOMING LISTINGS:

Shenzhen Chipscreen Bioscience (maker of anti-cancer drugs)
- Shanghai Star market
- Priced at 20.43 yuan to raise 1.02b yuan
- Essence Securities
Kepwealth Property Philippines (real estate developer)
- Philippine stock exchange
- Company is looking to price its IPO on Aug. 1 ahead of offer period set for Aug. 5-9
- Tentative listing date is Aug. 19
- BDO Capital & Investment
StemRim (supplier of medical products)
- Tokyo exchange
- Seeking as much as $132m; pricing Aug. 1
- SMBC Nikko Securities
Dohome (home furnishing retailer)
- Thailand
- Plans to sell 456m new shares and 8.88m existing shares at 7.80 baht
- Green shoe options of 56.2m shares
- Subscription period July 25 to 31
- Phatra Securities, Kasikorn Securities
Affle India (mobile marketing platform)
- Offering to start July 29, close July 31
- Aims to raise 900 million rupees
- IPO valued at about 4.6 billion rupees at top end of price band
- ICICI Securities, Nomura Financial Advisory
Amlogic (Shanghai) Co. (maker of semiconductor products)
- Shanghai Star market
- $236m
- 41.1 million shares at 38.50 yuan each
- Taking orders July 29, expected to start trading early Aug.
- Guotai Junan
Shanghai Friendess Electronic Technology (maker of laser motion control systems)
- Shanghai Star market
- $255m
- 25 million shares at 68.58 yuan each
- Taking orders July 29, expected to start trading early Aug.
- CITIC Securities
CloudMinds Inc. (Chinese cloud-based robot developer)
- NYSE
- Filed July 12
- $500m (placeholder amount subject to change)
- Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, UBS
Super Energy Power Plant Infrastructure Fund (Thai electricity producer and distributor)
- Thailand
- Subscription period July 22-31
- Up to 5.15b Baht ($167m)
- Bangkok Bank
AMTD International Inc. (Hong Kong investment bank)
- New York
- Filed July 25
- $176 million
- AMTD Global Markets Ltd.

More ECM situations Bloomberg is following:

Singapore-based Affle Holdings’ Indian unit gets 1O5% demand for shares offered on last day of sale Wednesday as of 11 a.m., according to data on National Stock Exchange website Wednesday
Bitcoin mining chip maker Canaan has filed confidentially for IPO in the U.S. of around $200m, IFRAsia reported
LG Display Co. sells $687.8m convertible bonds with 1.5% coupon and a conversion premium of 26% over Tuesday’s close