SINGAPORE &ndash Investment manager Yangzijiang Financial saw its shares surge as much as 22.6 per cent last week before coming to a close at 90 cents on July 4.

 

Yangzijiang Financial on July 2 revealed the April 28 incorporation of its wholly owned subsidiary, Yangzijiang Maritime Development, at an issued and paid-up share capital of US$100 (S$130), comprising 100 ordinary shares issued at US$1 per share.

 

This follows an April 27 announcement in which Yangzijiang Financial disclosed the possibility of spinning off its maritime investment segment into a new company to be listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

 

Yangzijiang Maritime Development will be led by executive chairman and chief executive officer Ren Yuanlin, who is also the founder of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, a Straits Times Index (STI) component stock. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shares took a beating earlier in 2025 after US President Donald Trump first proposed port fees on China-built ships.

 

Shares of the China-based shipbuilder have since recovered some ground, but closed the week flat at $2.21.

 

The STI hit an all-time high of 4,019 on July 4.

 

Property stocks contributed to its gains last week, but they retreated on July 4 after the Government raised the seller&rsquo s stamp duty (SSD) on private residential homes to between 4 per cent and 16 per cent, if a property is sold less than four years after the date of purchase.

 

Before the change, the SSD had been payable by those who sold a residential property within three years of purchase, at rates of between 4 per cent and 12 per cent.

 

Hongkong Land rose the most, by nearly 8.6 per cent, and closed July 4 at US$6.34. UOL rose 6.4 per cent through the week to close at $6.48, while City Developments rose 4.7 per cent to $5.39. CapitaLand Investment was up 2.6 per cent to $2.71.

 

Info-Tech&rsquo s IPO well received, more privatisations possible

Software services provider Info-Tech Systems ended its first trading day on July 4 at 91 cents, 4.6 per cent above its initial public offering (IPO) price.

 

The counter debuted on the mainboard at 95 cents and traded as high as 98 cents during the day. It is Singapore&rsquo s second listing for 2025 and first mainboard listing in close to two years.

 

Info-Tech&rsquo s IPO of some 24.9 million shares was fully subscribed at 87 cents apiece. It included five million shares for retail investors, which were 14.4 times subscribed.

 

The healthy response to Info-Tech&rsquo s listing is good news for the local exchange, which has seen returning interest from companies seeking to list in Singapore.

 

On June 30, Dezign Format Group, which provides events, exhibitions and decor services across various industries, lodged its preliminary prospectus to list on the Catalist. It follows a similar move by property revitalisation firm Lum Chang Creations on June 23.

 

The SGX may soon welcome another mainboard listing with NTT DC Reit, a real estate investment trust that will hold six data centres owned by Japanese telecoms giant NTT across the US, Austria and Singapore.

 

NTT DC Reit is seeking to raise roughly US$864 million if an overallotment option is included, according to Reuters, quoting a term sheet that marked the start of the bookbuilding process.

 

The value of the base offering is between US$772 million and US$812 million, while the overallotment option would add another US$51.5 million, the term sheet showed. The listing is targeted for July 14.

 

Listing interest has risen after the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced measures in February to strengthen Singapore&rsquo s equities market, including streamlined disclosure requirements for IPOs and a 20 per cent tax rebate for primary listings.

 

The increase in listing interest comes after the SGX had seen a dearth of new listings and a rising number of privatisations recently.

 

In 2025 so far, there have been 15 privatisation offers compared with 18 in 2024, and more could be on the cards, analysts said.

 

According to UOB Kay Hian analyst John Cheong, China Sunsine Chemical Holdings and Valuetronics Holdings are currently trading at steep discounts compared with their manufacturing peers, while investment holding company Avarga, Samudera Shipping and CH Offshore could be attractive takeover targets given their strong net cash positions.

 

Companies with high net cash are attractive privatisation targets as their strong balance sheets can help finance the deal and reduce risk for acquirers.

 

Construction stocks rally

Construction and industrial stocks closed the week with a strong showing.

 

Firms in the industry are expected to benefit from a slew of new projects following the unveiling of the Urban Redevelopment Authority&rsquo s Draft Master Plan 2025 on June 25.

 

The plan involves new public and private homes at the former Singapore Racecourse in Kranji, as well as in Dover and Newton. New neighbourhoods will be established in Paterson as well as Defu, while three new integrated community hubs will be built within the next 10 to 15 years in Sengkang, Woodlands North and Yio Chu Kang. Bishan will also see new mixed-use developments in the town centre, which will be positioned as a business node like Paya Lebar Central.

 

Other major projects include Changi Airport Terminal 5 and the expansion of Marina Bay Sands, as well as upgrading works on the Cross Island Line and Thomson-East Coast Line extensions.

 

Construction and civil engineering firms Koh Brothers Group and OKP Holdings rose the most, with Koh Brothers jumping 14 per cent through the week to close at a five-year high of 22 cents, while OKP advanced 10 per cent to a record high of 94 cents.

 

Shares of OKP have nearly trebled in price since the start of 2025, after the Building and Construction Authority provided estimates of construction demand ranging between $47 billion and $53 billion.

 

Concrete technologies firm Pan United climbed by more than 8 per cent to close at 87 cents, while Hong Leong Asia, the industrial arm of Hong Leong Group, rose 5.8 per cent to $1.67.

 

Other market movers

Shares of Del Monte Pacific plunged by more than 11 per cent last week, closing July 4 at 5.6 cents.

 

The food and beverage firm announced that its US subsidiary, Del Monte Foods, is contemplating a going-concern sale process for all or substantially all of its assets after filing for bankruptcy.

 

As part of the process, Del Monte Pacific will relinquish control of its US subsidiary and deconsolidate it from its accounts. According to Del Monte Pacific&rsquo s 2024 annual report, Del Monte Foods&rsquo US$1.7 billion in sales accounted for more than 70 per cent of the group&rsquo s total sales.

 

In contrast, other consumer staple stocks rose, including Sheng Siong, which climbed 4.8 per cent through the week to $1.97, and DFI Retail Group, which rose 5.5 per cent to US$2.88.

 

What to look out for this week

The remaining shareholders of Great Eastern will vote on whether to delist the company from the SGX in an extraordinary general meeting on July 8.

 

If 75 per cent of the minority shareholders vote in favour of a delisting, OCBC Bank will make an exit offer for the remaining 6.28 per cent of the shares in Great Eastern that it does not already own for $30.15 per share in cash.

 

If the delisting vote fails, shareholders must then vote on whether Great Eastern&rsquo s shares should resume trading.

 

Meanwhile, Lum Chang Creations is slated to complete the registration of its offer document on July 9, when it will reveal its offer price, valuation and market capitalisation.