Directors increase stakes in Aspial Lifestyle, Mi Material, Wilmar

[SINGAPORE] Over the five trading sessions from Oct 30 to Thursday (Nov 5), close to 80 filings relating to directors’ interests and substantial shareholdings were lodged for nearly 40 primary-listed stocks.

Directors or chief executive officers reported 21 acquisitions and five disposals, while substantial shareholders filed seven acquisitions and no disposals. 

These included CEO or director acquisitions filed for ABR , All-Link Air & Sea , Aspial Lifestyle , Frencken Group , Hyphens Pharma International , mDR , Mi Material, Nera Telecommunications , NetLink NBN Trust , Sheffield Green , shopper360 , UltraGreen.ai and Wilmar International .

During the five sessions, 19 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$11.1 million. 

More broadly, institutions were net sellers over the five sessions, recording net outflows of S$140.9 million. Real estate investment trusts (Reits), industrials, real estate (excluding Reits) and consumer cyclicals recorded net institutional buying.

CapitaLand Ascendas Reit and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trus t led buying among Reits, while Jardine Matheson and Singapore Airlines led industrials.

City Developments Ltd and Hongkong Land led real estate, while Genting Singapore and Jardine Matheson Southeast Asia led consumer cyclicals.

Aspial Lifestyle chairman adds shares, reduces fixed-income holdings

Between Oct 30 and Nov 3, Aspial Lifestyle chairman and non-executive director Koh Wee Seng acquired an aggregate of 1.95 million shares on-market for S$562,800, at an average price of S$0.289 apiece.

The purchases increased his direct interest in the consumer lifestyle and financial services group to 10.63 per cent from 10.53 per cent previously. His total interest rose to 76.3 per cent from 76.2 per cent. 

Separately, filings on Oct 29 and Nov 4 showed reductions in Koh’s holdings and interests in fixed-income securities.

Mi Material chairman grows direct interest post-trading debut

On Oct 30 and Nov 4, Oh Kuang Eng acquired an aggregate of 274,268 shares in Mi Material for S$420,780, at an average price of S$1.53 a share. Oh is non-independent non-executive chairman of the precision solder spheres manufacturer, as well as CEO and executive director of its parent company, Mi Technovation.

The first purchase was two days after Mi Material commenced trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) mainboard at an offering price of S$1.80 per share.

The acquisitions increased Oh’s direct interest to 1.69 per cent from 1.63 per cent, and lifted his total interest to 74.77 per cent from 74.71 per cent. His deemed interest rose by 10,524 shares to 361,740,500 shares, with the percentage unchanged at 73.08 per cent.

The transactions also followed Mi Material’s Oct 29 business update, in which it reported that its revenue of US$91.5 million for the first nine months of the 2026 financial year exceeded the US$65.3 million recorded for the whole of FY2025.

Adjusted profit after tax reached US$25.7 million, with the adjusted margin at 28.1 per cent compared with 16.1 per cent in FY2025. 

The company expects revenue for the fourth quarter of FY2026 to exceed that of Q3, barring unforeseen circumstances, with peak Q4 demand exceeding production capacity.

Its priorities include optimising production and order allocation, shifting its product mix towards proprietary alloys, and commencing production at its new Senai facility while progressing customer qualifications. The Senai facility is expected to be ready for production in Q4.

Wilmar independent director increases direct interest

George Yeo, non-executive and independent director of Wilmar International, on Nov 4 purchased 100,000 shares on-market for S$297,000, or S$2.97 each. This raised his direct interest in the agribusiness group to 1,006,500 shares or 0.016 per cent, from 906,500 shares or 0.015 per cent previously. 

On Nov 2, the company announced it had submitted the first tranche of documents requested in the National Environment Agency’s haze notice.

Wilmar also said it had accepted the statutory board’s appointment of Control Risks Group as assessor and Dentons Rodyk & Davidson as the assessor’s legal adviser, to be engaged at its own cost.

Frencken chairman continues to raise direct interest

On Oct 26, Gooi Soon Chai, Frencken Group’s chairman and non-independent non-executive director, acquired 100,000 shares on-market for S$200,000, or S$2 a share.

The transaction raised his direct interest in the precision engineering and technology solutions company to 1.76 per cent from 1.74 per cent. His total interest climbed to 21.55 per cent from 21.53 per cent. 

NetLink NBN Trust directors add units following H1 results

On Oct 30, Nagaraj Sivaram, non-executive and independent director of the trustee-manager of NetLink NBN Trust, acquired 99,000 units on-market for S$92,070, or S$0.93 each.

The purchase lifted his direct interest to 100,000 units, or 0.002 per cent, from 1,000 units previously.

Sivaram, who joined the board of the trustee-manager on Apr 1 and is a member of the audit committee, retired from EY Singapore in June 2019 after 35 years as an assurance partner. His experience includes audits of listed companies and multinationals, financial due diligence and technical accounting. 

Separately, on Nov 3, the CEO and executive director of NetLink NBN Trust’s trustee-manager, Tong Yew Heng, acquired 100,000 units on-market.

At S$93,000 or S$0.93 per unit, the purchase increased his direct interest to 1.4 million units or 0.036 per cent, from 1.3 million units or 0.033 per cent previously. 

The transactions followed the release of NetLink NBN Trust’s results for the first half of FY2027 on Oct 29.

Revenue declined 2.2 per cent to S$202.6 million, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 0.8 per cent to S$144.7 million. Ebitda margin improved to 71.4 per cent from 69.3 per cent.

Profit after tax fell 7 per cent to S$40.5 million, mainly due to higher depreciation and amortisation following the completion of the Nationwide Broadband Network upgrade, as well as enhancements to business and operations support systems. 

Distribution per unit increased 1.1 per cent to S$0.0274. For FY2027, NetLink NBN Trust is focused on maintaining network availability and service standards, integrating its Seletar central office, and strengthening and expanding its regulated asset base.

It also plans to invest in its digital backbone to support new housing, Smart Nation applications, mobile-network densification and non-building address point connections, while maintaining debt headroom and preparing for the next regulatory review.

UltraGreen.ai CEO raises direct interest

The CEO and executive director of health technology player UltraGreen.ai, Ravinder Sajwan, on Nov 4 bought 250,000 shares on-market for US$99,587, at an average price of US$0.398 per share.

The purchase raised his direct interest to 0.22 per cent from 0.20 per cent previously, and his total interest climbed to 62.37 per cent from 62.35 per cent. 

At UltraGreen.ai’s Q3 FY2026 briefing on Oct 29, Sajwan said the group remained focused on strengthening its US market position amid increased competition, while accelerating the roll-out of its integrated fluorescence-guided surgery platform across new clinical applications and markets.

For 9M FY2026, revenue from continuing operations increased 35 per cent year on year to US$131.8 million. Management said it would not yet provide a revised revenue forecast for Q4 or the full year, as additional market data is needed to assess recent changes in US pricing and customer purchasing patterns.

Hyphens Pharma chairman and CEO further builds direct interest

Between Sep 29 and Oct 29, Lim See Wah acquired a total of 189,500 shares of Hyphens Pharma International on-market for S$68,145, at an average price of S$0.36 apiece. Lim is the chairman, executive director and CEO of the pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare group.

The purchases raised his direct interest to 0.4 per cent from 0.339 per cent. His deemed shareholding remained unchanged at 147.66 million shares through wholly owned Inomed Holding. 

For H1 FY2026, Hyphens Pharma reported revenue of S$89.1 million, down 0.5 per cent on the year, while profit after tax grew 132.5 per cent to S$4.6 million and gross margin improved to 42.3 per cent from 39.4 per cent.

Profit attributable to shareholders increased 158.8 per cent to S$4.4 million, and operating cash flow rose 27.2 per cent to S$9.2 million. 

Hyphens Pharma is prioritising growth in higher-margin brands, disciplined inventory and receivables management, and further supply chain efficiencies. Proprietary brands revenue increased 17.9 per cent in H1; Ceradan and Ocean Health remain strategic pillars, and Winlevi continues to gain traction.

ABR managing director adds to stake

On Oct 5 and 29, ABR managing director Ang Yee Lim acquired an aggregate of 100,000 shares on-market for S$40,700, at an average price of S$0.407 a share. The transactions boosted his direct interest in the F&B and property investment company to 54.244 per cent, compared with 54.195 per cent previously. 

ABR posted H1 FY2026 revenue of S$67.4 million, down 2.5 per cent from S$69.1 million. It reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of S$1.83 million, in contrast to a net profit of S$720,000 in the year-ago period.

The group said revenue was affected by sales performance at certain outlets amid a challenging operating environment and intensified competition. Gross margin declined to 38 per cent from 39.1 per cent on a higher food-cost ratio.

Selling, distribution and outlet expenses rose 3.5 per cent on higher right-of-use asset depreciation, staff costs, and advertising and promotion expenses. Administrative expenses also climbed, by 2.7 per cent, on higher staff costs. 

ABR said its priority is to improve financial performance through revenue-enhancement initiatives and disciplined cost management.

These include refining menu offerings, improving customer experience, tightening controls over procurement, manpower and other operating expenses, as well as assessing underperforming operations.

Its property segment continued to make progress in H1, with Pavilion Square in Malaysia contributing as construction and sales activities advanced. Planning also commenced for its Dairy Farm Walk residential project in Singapore through a 10 per cent-owned associate. 

The writer is the market strategist at SGX. To read SGX’s market research reports, visit sgx.com/research.