Stocks to watch: Frasers Property, UOL, Thakral, QAF

[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (Jul 4):

Frasers Property, UOL Group: In a move to curb rising speculative buying in Singapore’s residential property market, the authorities are increasing the Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) rates by four percentage points, and extending the holding period that SSD applies from three to four years. These changes will take effect for all residential properties purchased on and after Jul 4, said the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore in a statement on Thursday night. The revised SSD will not affect HDB owners due to the minimum occupation period for HDB flats. UOL is launching Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard soon, while Frasers Property and Sekisui House are previewing The Robertson Opus this weekend. Prices start at S$3,150 per square foot. Shares of UOL Group closed 1.2 per cent or S$0.08 lower at S$6.62 on Thursday before the news, while Frasers Property shares ended flat at S$0.895.

Thakral Corp: The mainboard-listed company said on Thursday that its investee company in Australia, GemLife Communities Group, has debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange, on a conditional and deferred settlement basis. Via its initial public offering (IPO) exercise, GemLife has raised A$750 million (S$628.3 million) from around 180.3 million stapled securities offered at a price of A$4.16 apiece, making it Australia’s largest IPO this year. Thakral subscribed for an additional 600,962 GemLife stapled securities at the IPO price, resulting in a total of about 64 million GemLife stapled securities. The counter ended Thursday 4.7 per cent or S$0.07 lower at S$1.43.

QAF: The food manufacturer and distributor expects profit to fall significantly for the half-year ended Jun 30, due to higher costs, unfavourable foreign exchange rates and increased impairment of its joint venture investment. The group said on Thursday that it expects a “material reduction” in its profit attributable to owners of the company, compared with its performance in the same period last year. Its revenue for H1 2025, however, is expected to be comparable to that in H1 2024. Its shares closed flat at S$0.915, before the announcement.