The most obvious beneficiary among Singapore-listed gold stocks of gold’s bull run is Catalist-listed CNMC Goldmine Holdings, whose share price has more than quadrupled since 1Q 2025, cheered on by a growing chorus of analyst coverage. The most recent was on Jan 21, when Lim & Tan Securities analyst Chan En Jie said that CNMC is having a “great time as a gold digger”. He reiterates his “buy” rating and increases the counter’s target price to $1.53 from 48 cents, a more than 200% increase.
Meanwhile, PhillipCapital is raising CNMC Goldmine’s target price to $1.47 per share. In his research note dated Jan 18, analyst Hashim Osman increased the target price by 13 cents, or 9.7%, from his colleague Paul Chew’s target price in October 2025. The “buy” call is maintained.
Both Chan and Hashim note that the completion of the carbon-in-leach (CIL) facility expansion of CNMC’s main gold production plant in Sokor Field, Kelantan, is enabling CNMC to increase daily gold ore processing by 60% from 500 tonnes to 800 tonnes.
Chan has raised his FY2025 and FY2026 earnings estimates by 198% and 227%, respectively, to US$35.1 million and US$41.1 million, reflecting stronger operating leverage from elevated gold prices and the higher average gold price of US$3,800 per ounce in 2H2025.
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Meanwhile, noting that dividend per share has increased sevenfold from 0.2 cents in FY2022 to 1.4 cents in FY2024, Hashim suggests that the improved DPS signals CNMC’s stronger operational performance and cash flow generation.
The analyst also believes that there is room for the company to increase its dividends. With stronger earnings and a peak in capex, the dividend payout ratio could exceed the 30% target level if contingent on “sustained cash flow generation and capex requirements”.
For 1HFY2025 ended June 30, 2025, CNMC reported record earnings of US$15.8 million for its 1HFY2025, up 256.1% y-o-y. Revenue in the same period ended June was up 78% to US$52.8 million, driven by both higher production and higher selling prices of the yellow metal. For context, earnings for the whole of FY2024 came in at just US$9.8 million and the company’s previous record was US$12.2 million back in 2014.
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CNMC closed at $1.48 on Jan 28, up eight cents, or 5.7%, from the previous day.
ValueMax Group: First Mainboard-listed pawnbroker
Mainboard-listed ValueMax Group provides pawnbroking and secured moneylending services as well as the retail and trading of pre-owned jewellery and gold. According to its FY2024 annual report, it has 50 outlets across Singapore, including another outlet operated by an associate. In addition, there are 27 other outlets in Malaysia via associates.
For 1H FY2025 ended June 30, 2025, ValueMax reported earnings of $48 million, up 35.5% y-o-y. Revenue grew 16.8% y-o-y to $268.3 million and gross profit rose 27.7% y-o-y to $81.1 million.
This increase in revenue for the period was attributed to stronger revenue from the retail and trading of jewellery and gold, and from the pawnbroking and moneylending businesses, amounting to $30.4 million, $4.7 million, and $3.4 million, respectively. As a result, the overall gross profit margin increased due to better gross margins across all three business segments.
In September 2025, global luxury fashion goods company Louis Vuitton (LV) Malletier filed a claim alleging that one of ValueMax’s retail stores offered pieces of jewellery that were affixed with signs identical or similar to one or more of LV’s marks.
In a bourse filing on Dec 18, 2025, ValueMax says that the gold charm and gold earrings were unredeemed, pawned items procured by the company through separate sources. ValueMax says that it shall “vigorously and robustly” defend the claims brought forward by LV and will take “all necessary” action to defend its reputation.
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Shares in ValueMax closed at $1.18 on Jan 28, an increase of two cents, or 1.7%, from the previous trading day. In 2025, the counter rose from around 44 cents to nearly $1, an increase exceeding 100%.
Taka Jewellery: The latest to the pawnbroking party
Catalist-listed Taka Jewellery sells jewellery in both the local and international markets on a wholesale and retail basis. It currently operates 18 retail outlets in Singapore. For its wholesale business, the company claims to be one of the biggest exporters of diamond jewellery from Singapore.
The company expanded into the pawnbroking business and second-hand jewellery market in 2013, the latest among the listed pawnbrokers. It currently operates five such outlets under the Top Cash brand.
For the six months ended Dec 31, 2025, Taka Jewellery reported a $1.2 million, or 22%, y-o-y increase in earnings to $6.6 million, with earnings per share increasing to 1.16 cents from 0.96 cents previously.
Revenue stood at $83.1 million, up 18% y-o-y. The revenue increase was attributed to better performance across all business segments.
Due to the increase in operating outlets, retail revenue rose $6.9 million, or 16.6% y-o-y, to $48.5 million. In comparison, the financial services segment grew 10.6% y-o-y to $2.1 million, driven by higher income from the pawn broking business.
The wholesale and exhibition business grew 19.8% y-o-y to $32.4 million, driven by improved performance in exhibition shows.
Trading in Taka Jewellery shares roared to life on Jan 26. The counter was among the most actively traded shares that day, with more than 17 million shares changing hands and a 23% gain. It gained a further 0.7 cents, or 3.7%, to close at 19.7 cents on Jan 28. The shares are up 106% compared to the start of 2025.
MoneyMax Financial Services: From Catalist to Mainboard
MoneyMax Financial Services offers pawnbroking and secured financing services and operates more than 100 stores across Singapore and Malaysia.
Lim Yong Guan, executive chairman and CEO, says that the company aims to “provide hassle-free, affordable financial solutions to the underserved and unbanked community, with a focus on innovation and customer experience”.
Beyond pawnbroking, the Catalist-listed company has also diversified into luxury retail, automotive financing, and property-backed financing.
MoneyMax has stated that it aims to grow its pawnbroking loan book by expanding its outlet network and acquiring smaller pawnshops.
Aware of the social stigma of visiting pawn shops, MoneyMax says it is modernising the pawnshop experience by positioning its pawnbroking counters “discreetly within luxury retail jewellery shops”. It believes it can improve privacy and security for customers with its Malaysian drive-through pawnshops. Lim says that the arrangement enables customers to transact “conveniently, securely and privately”.
For 1HFY2025 ended June 30, 2025, the company reported a 78.8% y-o-y increase in earnings to $29.6 million, with revenue expanding 31.2% y-o-y to $243 million. The revenue growth can be attributed to a 43.2% increase to $187.7 million for the retail and trading of gold and luxury items segment and a 7.2% jump in revenue for the pawnbroking segment to $43.2 million.
Higher gold prices and stronger trading volume contributed to revenue growth for the retail and trading of gold and luxury items segment. In contrast, higher interest income from an expanded pawnbroking receivables portfolio supported pawnbroking revenue growth.
In a research report on Jan 16, Macquarie Equity Research analysts Jayden Vantarakis and Hanel Tan note that MoneyMax’s revenue from Malaysia rose 4.3 times to $41.3 million in 1HFY2025 ended June. Malaysia contributes 17% of total revenue, but only 4.5% of its asset base. This higher revenue-to-asset ratio is attributed to its drive-through pawn shop business model.
They also point out that the company has consistently paid dividends since its 2013 listing, reflecting the profitability of its core pawnbroking business, despite the lack of a formal dividend policy.
Lastly, they have observed that MoneyMax trades at 7.5 times P/E on Jan 15, lagging its listed peers, which trade at 23.5 times P/E.
On Jan 23, MoneyMax received approval-in-principle from SGX to move its listing from the Catalist to the Mainboard. It says that the move will enhance the company’s long-term value for shareholders and allow it to better tap opportunities in debt and equity markets for future fund-raising.
“MoneyMax has delivered strong and consistent growth in its performance over the years, underpinned by disciplined execution, continuous innovation and our ability to stay ahead of market trends and evolving lifestyle needs,” says Lim, who adds that the listing transfer reflects the company’s confidence in the long-term prospects of its business.
Shares in MoneyMax closed at 77.5 cents on Jan 28, up 3.5 cents, or 4.7%, from the previous trading day. In 2025, the share price rose by 14.5 cents to close at 46 cents, an increase of around 46%.
Aspial Lifestyle: Serving all segments of the market
Aspial Lifestyle operates six retail brands across three business segments: Maxi-Cash and Dr.Pajak under pawnbroking or financial services; Lee Hwa Jewellery, Goldheart Jewelry and Niessing for retail jewellery; and BigFundr for real estate secured lending.
Among the three segments, pawnbroking is its largest profit contributor (though not its largest revenue contributor), notes RHB Bank analyst Alfie Yeo in a non-rated report dated Oct 1, 2025.
Given its share price’s “good” correlation with gold prices, with a coefficient of more than 0.5 in 2025, he believes the stock is a proxy for gold.
According to RHB’s research, the correlation between gold prices and the volume of pawnbroking loans in Singapore is around 0.7, which is relatively strong. A higher gold price, therefore, indicates a higher number of loans given.
The correlation is even stronger at 0.9 between the gold price and the loan value per pledge. This means not only that the number of loans is increasing, but also that the loan amount per pledge is higher.
A strong gold price environment bodes well for pawnbrokers, as their ability to supply loans and expand their loan books to drive net interest income and revenue growth also increases. From 2021 to 2024, the default rate for unredeemed pledges was low at less than 5%.
For 1HFY2025 ended June 30, 2025, Aspial had earnings of $7.94 million with revenue up 33% y-o-y to $394 million. This was attributed to the strong performance of its retail and financial service businesses. However, the real estate segment saw a moderate revenue decline.
The financial services segment generated $48.0 million in revenue, a 36.8% y-o-y increase, driven by higher interest income underpinned by loan book growth and improved contributions from secured lending activities. For retail, revenue rose by 37.7% y-o-y to $319.2 million, driven by the robust sales performance in both the jewellery retail and gold trading segments.
Moving forward, Yeo expects growth across all segments, noting that Aspial is pursuing a multi-pronged development approach. For pawnbroking, the company seeks to grow its loan book via customer outreach programmes. Retail-wise, each of its three brands is positioned differently to appeal to different market segments and geographies.
Aspial has indicated that it is cautiously optimistic about 2HFY2025. With rising demand for short-term financing, such as pawnbroking and secured lending, in a stable economic environment, Aspial expects growth in the financial services segment.
Retail is expected to deliver a ”steady” performance, while real estate is expected to see improved operational performance in 2HFY2025.
Shares in Aspial closed at 30.5 cents on Jan 28, up one cent, or 3.4%, from the previous trading day. In 2025, the counter rose around 80% to 21.5 cents from less than 12 cents.
