Q&M Dental, Frencken, Zhongmin Baihui Retail, Accrelist directors add to stakes

[SINGAPORE] For the five trading sessions from Nov 28 to Dec 4, institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks, with net institutional outflow of S$78 million. This extended the S$552 million net outflow in the previous week.   

Institutional flows 

Stocks that had the highest net institutional outflow over the five sessions included DBS , Sembcorp Industries , Singapore Airlines , CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , CapitaLand Investment , ST Engineering , CapitaLand Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), Mapletree Logistics Trust , Jardine Matheson and Keppel DC Reit . 

Meanwhile, OCBC , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , Wilmar International , Frasers Centrepoint Trust , Hongkong Land , UOB , Genting Singapore , DFI Retail Group , Seatrium and Yangzijiang Maritime led the net institutional inflow over the five sessions. 

Share buybacks

For the five sessions to Dec 4 inclusive, 19 primary-listed companies conducted buybacks with a total consideration of S$61.2 million.

Singtel again led the consideration tally, buying back 9,072,500 of its shares at an average price of S$4.72 apiece. From Nov 12 to Dec 4, the telco repurchased 25,888,500 shares with a consideration of S$123 million, each share priced at S$4.75 on average. 

Filings indicated that the buybacks were pursuant to Singtel’s 2012 performance share plan, rather than its value realisation share buyback (VRSB) strategy for active capital management announced in May.

Singtel’s earlier rounds of buybacks included 12,284,949 shares repurchased in December 2024; 7,903,405 shares in November 2023; and 2,906,612 shares in May 2023. 

The company’s VRSB programme authorises up to S$2 billion in share repurchases over a period of three years; it is separate from periodic buybacks for employee share plans, of which the repurchased shares are not cancelled.

Singtel said that under the VRSB scheme, shares will be bought back from the open market – subject to prevailing market conditions – and subsequently cancelled. The cancellations are intended to deliver sustained uplifts in earnings per share and dividends per share, underscoring the company’s commitment to driving long-term returns on capital.

Under the telco’s Singtel28 strategy, the VRSB programme complements a S$5 billion variable return dividend and an additional S$2 billion earmarked for growth opportunities.

Funding for the VRSB scheme will come primarily from excess capital, supported by an accelerated pace and magnitude of asset recycling. 

Director transactions

Over the five trading sessions, more than 80 director interests and substantial shareholdings were filed. Across close to 40 primary-listed stocks, directors or chief executive officers reported 12 acquisitions and three disposals, while substantial shareholders recorded eight acquisitions and seven disposals.

Q&M Dental Group

Between Nov 28 and Dec 4, investment holding company Quan Min acquired 2,783,100 shares of Q&M Dental Group .

This increased the total interest of Q&M group CEO and non-independent executive director Dr Ng Chin Siau to 56.12 per cent from 55.82 per cent. The shares were acquired at an average price of S$0.515 apiece.  

Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 

On Dec 1, executive director and CEO Chen Kaitong acquired 800,000 shares at an average price of S$0.45 per share. This increased his direct interest to 22.02 per cent from 21.6 per cent.

Chen is a founding member of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group (ZMBH) and has served as director and CEO since December 2008. He also holds directorships across various companies in the group.

With more than 30 years of retail experience in China, he has been pivotal in shaping ZMBH’s growth, strategy and operations. He oversees corporate planning, business development and key daily functions.

Notably, he played a leading role in establishing the group’s first modern department store in Anxi. For his contributions, he has also earned numerous industry awards.

ZMBH operates department stores, supermarkets and large-scale malls across China, with a strong presence in Fujian and flagship projects in Hunan and Jiangsu. Its retail spaces serve China’s growing middle-income consumers with curated international and domestic brands. 

For its 2025 financial year ended June, ZMBH posted a 79.6 per cent year-on-year surge in profit after tax to 42.8 million yuan (S$7.8 million). This was driven by strong outlet mall earnings and a return to profitability for its Fujian stores, prompting the board to propose a dividend per share of S$0.01.

This was the group’s strongest profit after tax since FY2020, when it recorded 55.2 million yuan.

Its outlet segment also delivered a robust performance in FY2025. In terms of profit after tax, Changsha Sasseur Outlets contributed 31.4 million yuan and Wuxi Yueshang Outlets turned profitable with four million yuan, supported by high occupancy and robust tenant sales.

In October, ZMBH said that it was expanding its large-mall portfolio with a 52,000 square metre (sq m) project in Shanxi, slated to open in 2026. This would bring its total managed gross floor area in large malls above 700,000 sq m.

The group remains focused on selective mall projects and operational efficiency in its Fujian stores to drive sustainable growth in China’s competitive retail landscape.

ZMBH listed on the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist board in January 2011, and transferred to the mainboard in September 2013. 

Frencken Group

On Dec 4, Frencken Group chairman and non-executive non-independent director Gooi Soon Chai acquired 200,000 shares at S$1.38 apiece. This increased his total interest to 23.79 per cent from 23.75 per cent.

In a business update on Nov 17, the technology solutions provider highlighted that its revenue for the third quarter ended Sep 30 rose 6.5 per cent year on year to S$211.5 million. This was driven by its mechatronics unit, as well as stable sales from its integrated manufacturing solutions division.

Its Q3 FY2025 gross margin improved to 14.8 per cent, from 14 per cent previously, due to a favourable sales mix. This led to profit after tax and minority interests for the period growing 7.5 per cent to S$9.9 million, from S$9.2 million in Q3 FY2024.

Accrelist

Over the five trading sessions, Accrelist executive chairman and managing director Terence Tea acquired 2,177,800 shares at S$0.044 apiece. With a consideration of S$96,349, this increased his direct interest to 28.91 per cent from 28.23 per cent.

When the Catalist-listed company on Nov 14 reported results for its first half ended Sep 30, Dr Tea’s stake stood at 27.9 per cent.

Accrelist posted S$7.4 million in revenue for H1 FY2026, down S$1.8 million year on year, due mainly to its disposal of subsidiary MBU-WTE.

Meanwhile, revenue for the Accrelist Medical Aesthetics group of companies held steady in H1 FY2026 at S$7.1 million, with gross profit rising 42 per cent to S$3.3 million. This was on margins improving to 46.5 per cent – from 32.6 per cent – through strict cost controls.

Other business segments experienced 86.7 per cent growth in revenue to S$300,000, lifting overall gross profit for the group to S$3.5 million.

This narrowed Accrelist’s net loss to S$700,000 in H1 FY2026, from S$1.1 million in the year-ago period.

The group is expanding its medical aesthetics presence through AM Aesthetics clinics in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as AM Skincare, which develops and sells clinical skincare products.

It also holds a 52.5 per cent stake in Jubilee Industries, a provider of precision plastic injection moulding and tooling services for automotive, medical and consumer sectors, with production facilities in Indonesia.

MetaOptics

On Dec 1,  MetaOptics announced plans to raise S$4.85 million through a placement of 6.69 million new shares priced at S$0.7255 each. The funds are intended to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and expand its capital base to support a growing pipeline of global orders.

The secondary fundraising follows its Catalist initial public offering in September, which raised S$6 million through 30 million shares priced at S$0.20 apiece. 

The company said that the proceeds from the proposed share placement will reinforce its supply chain readiness and accelerate scaling of its glass-based metalens solutions. It noted that demand is rising across consumer devices, automotive systems and industrial applications.

Prospective investors include new participants and existing shareholders who have tracked MetaOptics since its listing.

The company builds flat, glass-based metalenses using the same processes as semiconductor chips. Their applications include non-contact fingerprint scanners, optical artificial intelligence chips and flat, glass-based computational cameras.

At its trading debut, MetaOptics was valued at S$47 million; its market capitalisation has since jumped to S$290 million. In October, it won the Startup Innovation Award at the 2025 Taiwan Weeks Asia Innovation Cup Demo Day in Taipei, in recognition of its pioneering metalens technology and cross-border growth potential.

Executive chairman Mark Thng said that MetaOptics is gaining strong commercial momentum, as metalens technology adoption is picking up across multiple high-growth markets.

He added that the placement’s capital injection strengthens the company’s ability to serve its customers, execute delivery commitments and advance its product road map.

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