US asset manager Capital Group has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Singapore Telecommunications, after it bought more shares from the open market.
In a May 8 filing, Singtel says that Capital Group had on May 6 bought 19,314,800 shares at an average of $4.67 per share, a level that is around 10% lower from its recent peak two months ago.
This brings Capital Group's total stake to 837,947,249 shares, equivalent to 5.1%, up from 4.98% previously, necessitating a filing with SGX as it is above 5%.
At this level, Capital Group is likely the second largest shareholder after Temasek, which holds just over 50%.
According to Singtel's most recent FY2025 annual report, within the standard top 20 list of shareholders, 18 of which are nominee accounts of brokers, banks or the CPF Board.
Atrium Investments, meanwhile, is the eight largest shareholder with 184,900,210 shares, equal to 1.12%.
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Singtel shares, after reaching a recent peak of $5.21 on March 20, has been trending down since.
That was around a month before holders of Singtel's so-called Special Discounted Shares can transfer and sell their shares and receive proceeds in cash.
The CPF Board, ranked 7th on Singtel's shareholders list, holds 737,334,544 shares, equivalent to 4.47% in custody for these SDS shareholders.
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These shares were mainly bought using their CPF savings from more than three decades ago. Previously, if SDS shareholders sold their Singtel shares, they had to refund the proceeds to their CPF accounts, which are then subjected to the usual withdrawal rules.
According to Singtel on May 7, some 83,000 or 13% of the total of some 615,000 SDS shareholders have sold their shares.
Singtel will be announcing its full year results on May 21.
Singtel closed at $4.69 on May 8, up 1.08% for the day, and up 2.4% year to date.
