When ST starts using words like "stormed" and "red-hot", you probably get a sense that the market may be over-heating in terms of valuations!
Oct 22, 2010
BULLS AND BEARS
Mapletree Industrial IPO hogs limelight
Reit trades 345m units to close up 25% at $1.16 despite listless market
By Jonathan Kwok
MAPLETREE Industrial Trust (MIT) followed in the footsteps of its government-linked cousin Global Logistic Properties (GLP) by dominating action on its debut on the Singapore Exchange.
Even though it started trading only in the afternoon yesterday, Temasek Holdings-linked MIT stormed to the top of the most actives list, with a red-hot 345 million units switching hands.
Buyers of the real estate investment trust (Reit) seemed oblivious to the broader market's lack of direction as they chased the counter up to $1.20 in early trade, up 29 per cent from its initial public offering price of 93 cents. MIT soon eased to close at $1.16, but was still up a remarkable 25 per cent or 23 cents.
'The action on the market was mostly about Mapletree,' said one remisier.
'In the morning, a lot of retail players called up and wanted to buy it when it opened... though by after 2.30pm or 3pm, the action was starting to slow down and the price was coming down.'
MIT's stellar performance could hardly have come as a surprise, given that the IPO was 38 times oversubscribed.
And GLP, a unit of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, had set a strong precedent on its Monday debut as it traded more than 500 million shares - almost a quarter of the day's total volume - and rose 11 per cent.
Since then, the fever over GLP has subsided somewhat, though it managed a very respectable 62.9 million shares yesterday as it rose three cents to $2.29. Its IPO price was $1.96.
The market on the whole, though, has been far less exciting than the fortunes of these two newcomers.
Other than a brief period yesterday morning, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) traded listlessly in negative territory as data from Chinese authorities showed growth in the world's second-largest economy was slowing down. The STI's close of 3,163.53 was a fall of 15.62 points, or 0.49 per cent, on the day.
Demand for MIT boosted volumes to 2.48 billion shares - well up from Wednesday's 1.9 billion - but some other punters' favourites were in play as well.
Golden Agri-Resources fell 1.5 cents to 65.5 cents on 240.1 million shares, while Genting Singapore saw volumes of 180.6 million as it dipped four cents to $2.22. Berlian Laju Tanker rose half a cent to six cents on 134.5 million shares.
Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), which like MIT is sponsored by Temasek's Mapletree Investments, benefited from her sister stock's debut yesterday. MLT's volumes jumped to 65.6 million units as it rose two cents to 90.5 cents.
Keppel Land dipped one cent to $4.49, after reporting an 11 per cent drop in third quarter net profit to $70.1 million, as revenue from property sales fell.
Nonetheless, Kim Eng Securities reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and raised its target price to $5.60 from $4.82, adding: 'The expected net gain of $321 million from the proposed sale of Marina Bay Financial Centre Phase 1 should lend weight to fourth quarter earnings. We remain positive on Keppel Land's sizeable exposure to international Grade A office space.'
Marine and offshore services provider BH Global Marine lost half a cent to 34.5 cents, despite the company's Taiwan Depository Receipts (TDRs) receiving a sterling reception in Taipei since listing there on Wednesday. The TDRs surged 6.89 per cent to close at NT$19.40 - the second day it had tested the price movement limits of the Taiwan bourse, which bar counters from moving in price by more than 7 per cent in a day.
Among the banks, DBS Group Holdings lost 12 cents to $14.36 and United Overseas Bank slid 14 cents to $18.44 while OCBC Bank was steady at $9.10.
Elsewhere in the region, the Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo was just about flat while the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.68 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 0.39 per cent.
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