8 SGX Companies to Keep Watch On

In my recent interview by Giraffe, I mentioned several stocks that I felt may be worth keeping a close watch on due to various challenges that they are facing. So I thought I may elaborate a bit further on these.

OCBC. They have certain exposure to China and is hoping to grow its market there. With China experiencing some slow down, it will be affected. But my view is that a slow down does not mean that China will come to a halt. Business will continue to ebb and grow. It is a huge emerging market that is hard to ignore. And they will need capital (loans) to support business operations. Cash is king.

Keppel. A significant part of Keppel's business is in the marine sector which is facing challenges from the declining price of oil. Much of the oil around the world are moved by maritime shipping. There has been few new orders, although it does have a sizeable order book to carry it forward. If the situation persists, painful layoffs may well be necessary. Such layoffs could result in some loss of capabilities for the future. Since Choo Chiau Beng stepped down as its CEO, the new management team has had much to deal with.

M1. M1 is largely dependent on the domestic market telco market, unlike Singtel which has an international market for diversification. With a 4th entrant coming into the local telco scene, it would face cannibalisation from the competition. But the question is, will the 4th player survive? M1 has also been the first off the block to introduce new service schemes (innovation?) to try to take the market in the meantime.

Boustead. A part of its business comes from the oil and gas, as well as property development. Both of which are facing difficulties. The oil and gas challenge is similar to Keppel's problem. With a slowdown in population growth, the need for housing in land-limited Singapore is going to slow down. There is also a lot of competition from the many companies in Singapore. They are experiencing forex downside given the extensive business operations in Malaysia (rapidly depreciating M$) and Australia (A$ is almost the same as S$ now).

Kingsmen. If there is slow down in regional economies, resulting in less business shop upgrades and MICE events, then they are likely to experience difficulties in growing their revenue. But they seem to have a strong reputation. Good branding. The emergence of more and more theme parks in the region, as well as upgrades at existing ones, are continued business opportunities for Kingsmen.

VICOM. There are some on the shrinkage of car population with many cars due to replace those at the end of 10 years. As car owners replace with new cars, they will not need to go to VICOM that soon. Maybe there will be near term shrinkage in revenue. But VICOM is dominant and car inspections are legally required. All VICOM need to do is to just raise its charges?

HourGlass. Luxury goods would most certainly benefit from a large newly rich Chinese market, hungry for symbolism. But the stamp down on corruption in China has made many self-conscious, and an economic slow down would likely create further reason for pause and caution. The company is also in the midst of transition from its founders to the next generation.

GKGoh. It's businesses operations in Europe and Australia would probably be affected by the foreign exchange rates when translated into the S$ currency. Its Boardroom subsidiary (itself a SGX stock) seems to dominate in providing services to many SGX companies, providing a stable revenue stream.

But all the above are likely things that will blow over as things reach equilibrium with time (reversion to mean?). Demand for the goods and services will still be there to provide growth. Ultimately, the businesses will thrive, so long as they are not experiencing the "Kodak moment" and continue to be led by responsible management teams that do not engage in any shenanigan.

A ship full of bears

This week in particular has been an "excitable" week, with the market in a sea of red for a couple of days. Looks like a ship full of bears. But I'm a contrarian. The market goes down, I'm excited. So I'm buying. Gradually. Because I can't be sure the market wouldn't go down even further.

Disclaimer: Do conduct your own research and make your own decisions. I do not possess any all-seeing eye that claims to predict the future. So I am not a clairvoyant. Above is just a personal view of things.