Ben Paul Markets

02/09/2025

Candid comments ...

Professor Kishore Mahbubani, former Singaporean Ambassador to the United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, and Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew...

01/09/2025

Temasek said some very interesting things about its legacy Singapore-based portfolio companies when it unveiled its organisational revamp last week – in particular, that conglomerates are out of fashion, and that they should become as “pure play” as possible.
After the management of the three key segments of its portfolio are placed under separate entities, I hope it will allow each of these divisions to report their one-year TSRs in addition to their longer term performance.
This could help everyone better understand the evolution unfolding at one of Singapore’s most important institutions.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

Back in the early 2000s, it puzzled me that Temasek Holdings chose to describe itself as an Asia investment company headquartered in Singapore; and its key portfolio holdings as Temasek-linked companies instead of government-linked companies. Read more at The Business Times.

25/08/2025

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such strong market reactions to earnings reports from Singapore companies. While it’s the sell-offs that draw the most attention, there has been no shortage of positive reactions.
With no evident investor apathy in this market, I guess companies and their advisers will only have themselves to blame when their stocks don’t perform.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

[SINGAPORE] The recent reporting season has been something of a reality check for bullish investors in the Singapore market, with a number of high-flying Straits Times Index (STI) components suffering big sell-offs after releasing their financial numbers. Read more at The Business Times.

22/08/2025

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay 1.4 billion ringgit ($330 million) to Malaysia to resolve all existing and potential claims relating to the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a move that will end its exposure to one of the biggest financial frauds in history.

18/08/2025

When Singapore’s fourth mobile network operator appeared on the scene, I couldn’t see how it was going to carve a viable share of the saturated market for itself. Last week, the ASX-listed parent of Simba Telecom said it is acquiring M1 – and its stock soared.
More to the point, consumers like me (I’ve never been an early-adopter of anything) are thinking of trying out this new player.
The reshuffling of market positions could get ugly for investors, of course. But maybe it’s time the telcos faced some disruption, if it delivers benefits to their customers.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

[SINGAPORE] When I began working in Singapore back in 2000, choosing a mobile phone service provider was not hard. Many people told me Singtel had the most reliable coverage across the island, and I just went with it. Read more at The Business Times.

18/08/2025

“While it still produces significant volumes of crude, Indonesia has long lacked the refining capacity to meet more than 280 million people’s demand for petrol, diesel and other products.
But Prabowo in particular had made reducing that vulnerability a priority, seeking to attract investment into onshore processing but more immediately cutting back on heavy reliance on Singapore, where Chalid and his profitable business were based, working out of a modest office.
“We are importing fuel from a country that does not even produce it. That is funny,” Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told a conference in May.”

[LONDON/JAKARTA] A reclusive oil merchant dominated Indonesia’s fuel trade for decades. Now he is embroiled in a US$18 billion probe into the country’s state-owned oil producer that has become a litmus test for President Prabowo Subianto’s anticorruption drive. Read more at The Business Times.

15/08/2025

"In a speech ahead of the 2012 IPO, Najib declared the listing would be a “quantum leap” for FGV. He also took a swipe at Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, whose shares had sunk below the offer price, saying he hoped FGV would perform better."

[KUALA LUMPUR] When Facebook went public in 2012, the world’s next-largest listing that year was a company from Malaysia best known for producing cooking oil. Read more at The Business Times.

14/08/2025

"1MDB’s remaining debt, involving principal and interest payments until 2039, is RM9 billion, comprising principal of RM5 billion and interest of RM4 billion."

[KUALA LUMPUR] The Malaysian government has recovered RM29.7 billion (S$9 billion) of funds relating to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its former unit SRC International since the establishment of the Assets Recovery Trust Account, according to the Finance Ministry. Read more at The Business Ti...

13/08/2025

Genting Singapore has been trailing the STI for some time, no thanks to disruptions at RWS deterring visitors. It’s unclear to me how the whole RWS 2.0 project is going to eventually pan out, and whether the new attractions will satisfy the GRA, which recently renewed its casino licence for only two years instead of three. But the stock has already taken quite a beating, and now offers a fairly high dividend yield.
Here’s my latest contribution to the column, which ran in today:

[SINGAPORE] This column predicted late last year that Genting Singapore’s profitability will improve in 2025, and drive a recovery in its beaten down share price. Read more at The Business Times.

11/08/2025

A number of government-linked companies have been restructured or rejuvenated in recent years – CapitaLand, Keppel, SATS, Sembcorp, SIA, ST Eng, SingTel. Some that couldn’t serve public shareholders while meeting their larger obligations were taken out of the market – such as SMRT Corp and SPH.
Will something similar happen at SingPost? After the sale of its Australian business, that might be the only thing that will get investors excited again.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

[SINGAPORE] At Singapore Post’s (SingPost) annual general meeting (AGM) on Jul 23, its outgoing chairman Simon Israel hailed the divestment of the group’s Australian logistics business, Freight Management Holdings (FMH). Read more at The Business Times.

04/08/2025

The full impact of Trump’s tariffs will become more apparent in the months ahead; and his weakening the credibility of the Fed and BLS probably won’t help. And, after the strong run we’ve had, companies that disappoint investors may be severely punished.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

[SINGAPORE] It seemed like Groundhog Day again when US President Donald Trump unveiled revised reciprocal tariffs on imports from dozens of countries last Thursday (Jul 31). Read more at The Business Times.

28/07/2025

The S$5 billion EQDP is spurring optimism in the Singapore market. But capital will eventually flow towards companies that are growing their businesses and prioritising shareholder value.
Fund managers under the EQDP should use their influence as shareholders to ensure this happens at the smaller-cap companies in which they are mandated to invest – even if it means running up against the vested interests of their boards and controlling shareholders.
Openly expressing their views about these companies to the media might be helpful. The appropriate forum for investors to engage with listed companies on most matters, in my view, is neither the boardroom nor the courtroom but the public square.
Here’s the latest column, which ran in today:

THE national effort to revitalise the local market kicked into a higher gear last week, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announcing the appointment of the first batch of fund managers under its S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP). Read more at The Business Times.