OVER the five trading sessions from Dec 8 to 14, the Straits Times Index gained 0.6 per cent.

There were 87 filings for changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings in that period, from 30 companies, as well as 56 filings for share buybacks by 25 companies.

A number of the filings for changes in interest of substantial shareholders came from 17Live Group : VT1 0%. The company began trading on Dec 8 following a business combination with special-purpose acquisition company Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation (VTAC).

Shareholders opted to redeem close to two-thirds of the Spac’s share capital, while one of its cornerstone investors, Fullerton Fund Management, redeemed all of its 2.6 million shares – or a 6.25 per cent stake in VTAC.

Following the close of the business combination, the total issued number of shares in the company, including newly issued consideration shares, base private investment in public equity shares and special bonus shares, increased to 177,371,431 from 41,606,000 shares.

Shares in 17Live closed down 9 per cent on Friday (Dec 15), at S$1.69 – much lower than its initial public offering price of S$5.

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17Live is a pure-play live streaming platform with a market value estimated at S$329.9 million.

SIA Engineering

The aircraft maintenance group repurchased a total of 50,300 shares over the last five trading days at an average price of S$2.33 per share.

Shareholders of SIA Engineering : S59 0% approved plans to renew its share buyback scheme in July. Since then, it has acquired 737,900 shares – representing 0.07 per cent of its shares outstanding.

The stock is down nearly 3 per cent this year, and down 0.9 per cent over the past month. It closed at S$2.38 on Friday (Dec 15), up 2.2 per cent for the day.

SIA Engineering reported an operating loss for the second quarter of FY2024 (the company has a March year-end), partly due to the debt impairment provision arising from the suspension of its Malaysian customer MYAirline.

In October, Malaysian authorities suspended the airline’s licence and air operator’s certificate after the low-cost carrier’s financial woes left passengers stranded at the airport.

SIA Engineering’s revenue, however, was almost back to pre-pandemic levels, at S$252.1 million for Q2 and S$514 million for H1.

The company also reported an 82.6 per cent increase in its H1 profit, to S$59.3 million; and Q2 profit increased 64 per cent to S$32.3 million.

Investors are not yet convinced. The stock is still some way from its last peak of over S$5 in 2014.

The Covid-19 years were hard on the business. The company posted a full year operating loss of S$21.8 million in FY2022 – though this was more than offset by the S$77.8 million share of profits from associated and joint venture companies, allowing the company to report a profit of S$67.6 million.

In FY2023, operating losses widened even further to S$26.3 million, while net profit fell 1.8 per cent to S$66.4 million.

Higher manpower costs, material costs and equipment running costs have also weighed on the company’s bottom line. In its most recent first half results, staff cost as a percentage of revenue was 54.4 per cent – higher than the 53 per cent it posted a year earlier.

Revenue growth was also slower in Q2 of this year, at 32.2 per cent. Revenue grew 52.7 per cent in Q1, driven by higher demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul services.

The number of flights handled by the group under its line maintenance business improved 56 per cent in the first half of FY24, however, compared with a year ago. As at H1 FY24, the company’s flight recovery was 89 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

StarHub

The telecommunications company purchased a total of 450,000 shares in the last five trading days at the price of S$1.09 per share.

The company’s share buyback was renewed in April, and it has acquired 15,929,700 shares since then.

In June this year, StarHub : CC3 0% announced it would set aside S$50 million to repurchase up to 3 per cent of its issued share capital, or approximately 51.9 million shares, to enhance long-term total shareholder returns.

The programme will facilitate the return of excess cash to shareholders, the company said, and was proposed after considering factors such as the group’s short- to mid-term capital requirements and cash flow trends, as well as its future growth plans and funding needs.

StarHub said its business model is shifting, and that it will be substituting more of its capital expenditure needs with operating expenditures instead. The company also generates “healthy cash flow”, it said.

Its free cash flow was S$131.1 million for the first nine months of 2023, up 13.7 per cent from S$115.4 million in the year-ago period.

The telco reported a 36.5 per cent growth in net profit in its latest quarter’s earnings, to S$37.3 million. For the nine-month period, net profit was up 29.1 per cent on the year to S$114 million.

Total revenue for the quarter also expanded 5.3 per cent to S$622.1 million. For the nine-month period, its total revenue was 4.8 per cent higher, at S$1.7 billion.

Last week, StarHub also announced the sale of one of its subsidiaries, cryptographic technology company D’Crypt, to conglomerate ST Engineering at an initial consideration of S$67.5 million.

The deal also includes a S$5 million earn-out consideration – a form of deferred consideration paid out when certain business goals are met.

The divestment allows StarHub to optimise its resources for other businesses, the company said.

The counter has risen 3.8 per cent this year, to close down 1.8 per cent at S$1.07 on Friday.

That gives it a historical price-to-earnings ratio of 26.8 times, and a dividend yield of 4.63 per cent.