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Most of the buybacks by DBS were done in May, when the share price fell 14%. Singapore banks’ share buybacks have picked up steam in 2019. A Maybank Kim Eng report noted that DBS and OCBC have bought back more shares YTD and much earlier than they did last year. Maybank KE analyst Thilan Wickramasinghe expounded that DBS has bought back 25% YTD of the volume it bought in 2018. “Importantly, this was mostly done in May 2019, when its share price fell 14%. Historically, DBS was most active buying back shares in Q3/Q4,” the analyst said. Meanwhile, OCBC has bought back 60% of the volume it bought in 2018 and much earlier, the analyst added, noting that the DBS and OCBC buybacks in Q2 2019 are equivalent to 55% and 53%, respectively, of their treasury shares balances. Also read: Singapore's big banks are on a buying spree as share buybacks hit $116.5m

Electronic exports contracted 31.4% YoY.

And 25-year-old Great Singapore Sale will kick off by 21 June. From Property Guru:

UOB led the gains at 0.97%.

Four in five were from the manufacturing sector. This chart from the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) shows that employees on short work-week more than doubled (143%) MoM to 900 in Q1 2019 from 370 in Q4 2018.

High costs and industry downturn prompted more retrenchments.

Around 1,400 civil servants will also benefit from a higher one-off lump sum payment.

A rebound in beer consumption and retail sales bodes well for the second largest Thai beer player.

A private placement paired with preferential offering could boost its DPU, an analyst said.

This means that SATS may shell out $333m annually on average during the three-year period.

Enrolment for the Frequent Traveller Programme is free.

Singtel Optus will utilise the funds for general corporate purposes. Singtel subsidiary Singtel Optus priced its EUR500m ($770.82m) 10 year fixed-rate notes at 1% per annum and for maturity on 20 June 2029, an announcement revealed. Under the Optus Finance EUR3b ($4.62b), the issued notes are guaranteed by Optus and certain subsidiaries. “This issue is part of Optus’ long-term financing strategy, extends the maturity profile of Optus’ debt as well as adding diversity to its debt structure,” Singtel said in a filing, noting that Optus will utilise the funds for general corporate purposes. Citigroup Global Markets, HSBC Bank and Merrill Lynch International acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the notes which will be issued on 20 June.  

Private healthcare allowances are tipped to grow at a 8.3% CAGR  between 2016-2020.

It aims to cover legal expenses incurred in IP infringement proceedings worldwide.

It ranked 12th due to another strong year for the Singapore dollar.

The top-ups will be given only to qualified seniors.