Singtel hits five-year high; Yangzijiang continues slide

Great Eastern granted third extension to comply with SGX free float requirements

- Kang Wan Chern

Shares of Singtel hit a five-year high of $3.99 on May 22, after the company announced it had proposed a final dividend of 10 cents per share for the financial year ended March 31.

The proposal brought total dividends for the year to 17 cents, up from 15 cents in the previous year.

Singtel also said it will buy back up to $2 billion of its shares over three years to return excess capital to shareholders. It added that the buybacks will be funded by excess capital from the group's asset recycling proceeds.

Following its divestment of a 1.2 per cent stake in its Indian associate Bharti Airtel for $2 billion earlier in May, Singtel has hit more than half of its $6 billion mid-term asset recycling target and is now raising this target to $9 billion.

The company reported a net profit of $4.02 billion for the financial year, more than five times that of the previous year. This was due to a net exceptional gain of $1.55 billion, mainly from the partial divestment of its Comcentre headquarters, compared with a net exceptional loss of $1.47 billion a year ago.

Shares of Singtel were heavily traded through the week, and closed on May 23 at $3.88.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding continued to slide last week.

The shipbuilder's shares have been falling ever since a US proposal to impose fees on Chinese-built vessels entering American ports was announced on Feb 21, the same day the shares hit an all-time high of $3.22.

In a business update on May 22, Yangzijiang reported securing only six new ship orders worth US$290 million (S$372 million) in the first quarter of 2025 — less than 5 per cent of its US$6 billion annual target. The company attributed the slowdown to ship owners holding back amid uncertainty over US port fees.

Yangzijiang also noted that it remains on track to deliver its targeted 56 vessels in 2025 and holds an order book valued at US$23.2 billion, with deliveries scheduled over the next three years.