Keppel Hits 5-Year High on Earnings News; SIA, Banks Among STI Laggards

Benchmark index falls 2.52% for the week, dragged down by declines in heavyweights

- Timothy Goh

Shares of asset manager Keppel Corporation hit a five-year high of $8.65 on July 31, after the group reported a 24.2 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to $377.7 million for the first half of 2025.

The asset manager declared an interim cash dividend of 15 cents per share—unchanged from a year ago—and unveiled a $500 million share buyback programme.

Chief executive Loh Chin Hua added that moving forward, Keppel will focus on monetising $14.4 billion in non-core assets.

The company's shares closed on Aug 1 at $8.31, up by 1.3 per cent through the week.

STI SLIDES, LED BY SLUMP IN SIA

Keppel's rise stood out on the Straits Times Index (STI), which fell 2.52 per cent to close at 4,153.83 points last week, dragged down by declines in heavyweights like Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Shares of SIA fell some 10 per cent through the week to close at $6.82 on Aug 1, after the national carrier reported early in the week a 59 per cent year-on-year slide in earnings to $186 million for the first quarter of its financial year ended June 30.

SIA said on July 28 that the slide was due to lower interest income and the share of losses of associates. Air India, in which SIA holds a 25.1 per cent stake, accounted for the bulk of losses from associates.

Despite stronger results from SIA's core operations, analysts warned that Air India could remain under pressure following the fatal crash of Flight 171 in Ahmedabad on June 12, which led to a drop in bookings and significantly lower airfares.

Several have since downgraded the stock.

Several other STI components stocks also fell last week.

Singtel shares lost 5.57 per cent to close on Aug 1 at $3.90 after going ex-dividend on July 31.

Hongkong Land Holdings also declined, slipping 4.51 per cent to end the week at US$5.93. Its results, released on July 29, had fallen short of analysts' expectations.