SINGAPORE (June 25):  he Lee brothers at the helm of developer Sing Holdings have been steadily nibbling shares on the open market as the company enjoys steady sales of its latest residential project Parc Botannia.

On June 18, Lee Sze Hao, the company’s managing director and CEO, bought 121,000 shares at an average of 42.413 cents each, bringing his direct stake to 13.9 million shares, or 3.47%. The purchase also brings his total interest, which includes a deemed stake held via an entity called FH Lee Holdings, from just over 156 million shares to nearly 156.2 million shares, or 38.94%.

Lee’s recent purchases at an average price of 42 cents each is at a significant discount of a third off its net asset value of 63.86 cents as at March 31. Like many property plays, Sing Holdings experiences lumpy earnings. For FY2013 ended Dec 30, the company booked earnings per share of 7.19 cents. This figure plummeted to 0.01 cent for the following year, before surging to 5.07 cents and 6.55 cents for FY2015 and FY2016 respectively. For the most recent FY2017, EPS dropped to 0.82 cent. The company’s NAV has been steadily growing, though. From 56.25 cents in FY2013, NAV in FY2017 reached 63.53 cents.

Barely a week before CEO Lee’s purchase, his elder brother, Lee Sze Leong, the company chairman, bought 67,000 shares at an average of 43 cents each. Sze Leong now owns a direct stake of 2.2 million shares, or 0.54%, and a total direct and deemed interest of 144.4 million shares, or 36.01%.

Between the two, Lee has been buying more actively. On May 31, he bought 275,000 shares at 43 cents each; on June 5, 77,000 shares at 42.966 cents each; on June 6, 100 shares at 42.5 cents each; on June 7, 92,000 shares at 43 cents each; on June 8, 35,000 shares at 42.75 cents each; and on June 13, 62,300 shares at 42.685 cents each.

The Lees were not the only insiders buying shares on the open market. Tan Tong Guan, one of the two independent directors of the company, has been making occasional purchases as well via an entity called Tan Gee Beng. On April 5, Tan paid an average of 42.5 cents each for 120,000 shares, bringing his total ownership to 6.9 million shares, or 1.72% of the company.

Tan was more actively buying between December 2017 and January this year. He bought 165,000 shares at 44 cents each on Dec 22; 235,000 shares at 44.5 cents each on Jan 10; 200,000 shares at 44.5 cents each on Jan 11; and 120,000 shares at 44.5 cents each on Jan 16.

Tan’s various rounds of purchases came more than a month after the launch of the Parc Botannia condominium project. At its launch on the weekend of Nov 11 and 12, about 230 units were sold at an average of $1,270 psf each. Sing Holdings owns the majority 70% stake in this develop ment, with <strong>Wee Hur Holdings</strong> holding the remaining 30%. This project, located on Fernvale Street, has a total land area of 185,095 sq ft. The joint venture is building a total of 735 apartments on this site, with a saleable floor area of 561,403 sq ft.

The Sing Holdings-Wee Hur joint venture was awarded the land after a tender organised by URA in September 2016. The JV put in the highest bid of $287.1 million, or $517.03 psf per plot ratio — only marginally higher than the second-highest bid of $287.09 million, or $517 psf ppr, tabled by China Construction (South Pacific). A total of 14 bids was submitted.

According to Sing Holdings in its 1Q earnings announcement in May, 53% of the units were sold between last November and May 10, translating into a total sales value of $342.7 million. More sales have been made since then. According to caveats lodged with URA, as at June 18, another seven Parc Botannia units had been sold. The company will be recognising the revenue from the sales according to construction progress. Work started in July 2017 and is scheduled for completion in 4Q2020.

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