Our analysis focuses on a curated group of Singapore-listed companies characterised by active value realisation. Within this universe, December marked a constructive reset as value-led execution regained traction. Gains were broad-based, with participation across large, mid, and smaller names, signalling renewed risk appetite after a period of consolidation. Smaller and mid-cap stocks led the advance, while larger franchises contributed steady upside, reinforcing their defensive role within the universe.
More importantly, the full-year picture remains firmly intact. Across the year, this group of stocks has delivered a materially stronger outcome than the broader Singapore market, driven by sustained governance upgrades, capital recycling, and balance-sheet optimisation rather than cyclical tailwinds.
What stands out is not the pace of gains, but their quality. The year’s performance was built through repeatable corporate actions, such as divestments, buybacks, restructuring, and tighter capital discipline, rather than one-off re-ratings. Even as volatility surfaced mid-year, follow-through at the company level kept the momentum.
Who walked the talk
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ESR-REIT — Portfolio pruning to defend long-term value
ESR-REIT announced the divestment of a portfolio of eight Singapore industrial assets at a premium to valuation, streamlining its portfolio and releasing capital for redeployment. The proposed sale is expected to improve capital flexibility, support balance-sheet optimisation, and allow reinvestment into assets with stronger leasing visibility and return profiles.
Why it matters: For REITs, capital recycling is no longer optional. Active pruning of shorter-lease or lower-growth assets is becoming a prerequisite for protecting per-unit value across cycles.
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Samudera Shipping Line — Buying strategic optionality, not just yield
Samudera invested via a convertible instrument into a container depot operator developing an integrated logistics hub in Singapore, extending its reach into logistics infrastructure. The investment embeds Samudera deeper into the logistics value chain, creating strategic optionality while preserving downside protection through a non-equity-first structure.
Why it matters: Vertical adjacency matters. Rather than pure financial exposure, Samudera is planting a strategic option in logistics capacity, aligning capital with operational relevance.
Wee Hur Holdings — Portfolio consolidation to sharpen capital efficiency
Wee Hur announced the divestment of its 80%-owned Adelaide property, a 708-bed student accommodation asset at 188 Grenfell Street, for $14.2 million. The deal crystallises an estimated $4.7 million gain.
Post-transaction, Wee Hur will reduce its direct interest in the asset from 80% to 20%, rolling its exposure into Wee Hur PBSA Fund IIIA (WHF3A), consistent with its strategy to consolidate PBSA assets within a managed fund structure. The move derisks the project, tightens capital allocation, and positions the fund as the primary growth vehicle.
Why it matters: Capital-light exposure and risk dispersion are becoming baselines for property developers. Wee Hur’s pivot reinforces a market reality: Structure matters as much as scale when investors assess long-dated development pipelines.
For more stories about where money flows, click here for Capital Section
Global Investments — Leaning into buybacks as a capital efficiency lever
Global Investments (GIL) repurchased $4.5 million of shares at an average price of 12.6 cents, adding to a year defined by elevated on-market repurchases across Singapore corporates.
The company emerged as one of the highest buyback-intensity names among Singapore’s SMIDs, and has leaned into market undervaluation with conviction, using repurchases as a deliberate capital-efficiency tool rather than a defensive gesture. The approach has coincided with a 13.8% ytd price return.
Why it matters: Singapore’s buyback momentum is no longer episodic; it is structural. GIL’s stance reflects an operating philosophy centred on shareholder alignment and disciplined capital deployment, attributes increasingly rewarded as the value-up cycle deepens.
From episodic wins to structural change
Momentum among Singapore companies executing value-up strategies reinforces the thesis that companies embracing restructuring, divestments, and capital discipline are structurally rerating.
Share repurchases have emerged as the standout corporate action of 2025. For the first ten months of the year, nearly 80 primary-listed companies executed on-market buybacks totalling $1.9 billion, up roughly 90% from the same period in 2024. This signals a market-wide recalibration toward capital efficiency, valuation discipline, and shareholder alignment.
Singapore’s market infrastructure is also positioning for a structurally different horizon. The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s latest measures — from the SGX–Nasdaq dual-listing bridge targeted for mid-2026 to the $30 million “Value Unlock” Package — point to a marketplace that is widening its capital funnels while tightening its governance spine.
As these initiatives compound, supported by corporates demonstrating capital-allocation maturity, the value-up cycle stands to evolve from a re-rating story into a governance-led market regime that redefines how Singapore attracts listings, retains capital, and commands investor confidence in the years ahead.
The message is unmistakable: For Singapore Inc, value-up is codifying into operating DNA, not fading as a policy-led narrative.
Smartkarma is a Singapore-based investment intelligence platform that connects global investors with independent research, data, and analytics. It is at the forefront of developing benchmarks and digital-IR solutions to support Singapore’s value-up reforms.
Value Talk, Real Walk is a monthly column by Smartkarma, dedicated to tracking how SGX-listed companies are unlocking value through divestments, buybacks, governance reform, and disciplined capital return. Drawing on proprietary analysis and insights from independent research published on the platform, each edition spotlights firms turning intent into execution
