Articles

SALVATORE Takoushian, chief executive of embattled Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT), is looking to contest four criminal charges under the Securities and Futures Act, over consenting to EHT’s “reckless” non-disclosure of information that was necessary to avoid the establishment of a false market.

Appearing in the state court on Friday (May 17), the 43-year-old American told the judge he intends plead “not guilty” to the charges. He also said he intends to engage a lawyer.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday said that Takoushian, if convicted, faces a fine of up to S$250,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to seven years on each charge. (more…)

UOB on Wednesday (May 8) reported a net profit of S$1.49 billion for its first quarter ended Mar 31, 2024, down 1.6 per cent from S$1.51 billion a year earlier.

The earnings beat the mean estimate of S$1.43 billion from three analysts polled by LSEG.

Excluding one-off expenses incurred in the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses, the bank’s net profit would have been 0.7 per cent lower year on year at S$1.57 billion from S$1.58 billion. (more…)

DBS Group Holdings has hit the milestone market cap of $100 billion after its share price gained this morning following yet another record net profit of $2.96 billion for the 1QFY2024 ended March 31, 15% higher y-o-y and 24% higher q-o-q. The 1QFY2024 net profit is also well above a Bloomberg poll of $2.465 billion for the first quarter. While the year is still young, DBS may well meet and possibly beat FY2023's record-breaking $10 billion.  (more…)

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (Apr 26):

CapitaLand Investment : 9CI 0% (CLI): The real estate investment manager on Friday reported total revenue of S$650 million for Q1, down 0.2 per cent year on year from S$651 million. While fee-income-related business revenue rose 7 per cent to S$274 million, its real estate investment business revenue fell 4 per cent to S$430 million on asset divestments and lower tech demand that affected revenue from its lodging platform, Synergy. CLI closed on Thursday S$0.02 or 0.8 per cent down at S$2.63.

Great Eastern : G07 +0.21%: The insurance company’s chairman, Soon Tit Koon, appealed for shareholders to remain patient in response to repeated shareholder comments on the decline in Great Eastern’s total shareholder returns. At the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday, he said the board has already taken measures to boost returns such as changing its dividend policy to pay out dividends half yearly, and targeting a full-year payout based on the sustainable profit level of the insurer. Shares of Great Eastern closed 0.7 per cent or S$0.12 higher at S$18.62 on Thursday. (more…)

I’VE attended two funerals in the past four months. Both funerals commemorated relatives aged 80 and above.

Reflecting on these solemn occasions kindled some contemplation. Singaporeans, on average, live to around 84.

Life expectancy has been increasing. In 1980, Singaporeans would typically live till 72. Today, you are expected to live longer, and thus, have to save more for your retirement.

The long lifespans in our country have not gone unnoticed. In fact, Netflix’s documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones identified Singapore as one of six “Blue Zones” globally.

A Blue Zone is defined as a region with a notable concentration of centenarians, or individuals aged over 100. (more…)

Live snakes, a mounted ram head, a Halloween card signed by Richard Nixon.

Those are some of the most fascinating items found in lost luggage in 2023, according to a new report by Unclaimed Baggage, a store that buys lost items from airlines, sight unseen.

The company also found a 13-foot vaulting pole, gruesome props from the “Saw” movie franchise, and a $12,000 pair of Louis Vuitton Nike Air Force 1 sneakers.

Those items and more are detailed in the company’s first “Found Report: A Look Inside America’s Lost Luggage,” published April

(more…)

Technological evolution has brought about a critical imperative in cybersecurity today, where relentless threats demand purging outdated defences and streamlining the security stack.

In a world flurried with reputation-crushing cybersecurity threats, businesses typically relied on the age-old adage of “better safe than sorry”. This thinking has led organisations to amass an arsenal of solutions, taking a “best of breed” approach; each addition building upon the previous, seeming like a prudent, necessary step to address a multitude of concerns. (more…)

Ether grabbed the cryptocurrency spotlight after posting its biggest jump in more than a month, a surge pegged to speculation about the outlook for applications to start US exchange-traded funds for the token.

The second-largest digital asset traded at about US$3,678 ($4956.10) as of 9:40am on Tuesday in Singapore, holding most of an 8.5% advance from US hours. Ether’s 61% year-to-date gain is closing in on market-leader Bitcoin’s 67% increase.

“There’s been some chatter about Ether ETF issuers meeting with the US Securities and Exchange Commission,” said Edward Chin, co-founder of digital-asset hedge fund Parataxis Capital. (more…)

Exchange-traded funds, more commonly known as ETFs, are a basket of securities that can be easily traded like an individual stock. Often confused with mutual funds due to their similarities, ETFs offer more versatility as they can be traded at any time of the day, unlike mutual funds. Most ETFs track a specific index and their holdings are disclosed daily.

According to Richard Siaw, the director of Southeast Asia at New York-headquartered passive thematic manager Global X ETFs, the adoption of ETFs in Singapore has grown in recent years with rising financial literacy and a wider variety of ETFs. (more…)

It seems that negotiations for Singtel to divest a 20% stake in its Australian business, Optus, is off, according to Australian Financial Review. It is understood that talks between Singtel and Brookfield have ended for now, as they were unable to agree on terms, including the price. (more…)