Industry News

UOB Kay Hian’s latest financial updates reveal a mixed performance across Asian markets, with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI) experiencing a 9.9% year-on-year decline in earnings for the first eight months of 2025. The bank’s pre-provision operating profit fell by 4.4%, impacted by lower yields and increased operational expenses. Despite a modest 5.8% growth in loans, driven by corporate and consumer sectors, micro loans continued to contract. The bank maintains a “hold” rating with a target price of Rp4,250, supported by a 7.9% dividend yield.

In Malaysia, the banking sector remains robust despite macroeconomic headwinds. August statistics indicate steady loan growth at 5.4%, improved asset quality with gross impaired loans at historical lows, and healthy liquidity levels with a loan-to-deposit ratio below 90%.

Meanwhile, VS Industry in Malaysia reported disappointing results due to operational challenges and cost-cutting measures. However, the company remains optimistic about narrowing losses by March 2026. The valuation appears attractive at 13.0 times FY26 forecast price-to-earnings ratio, maintaining a “buy” rating with a target price of RM0.76.

In Singapore, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are poised to benefit from a shift in US monetary policy towards easing, which is expected to lower debt costs and expand yield spreads. UOBKH recommends buying blue-chip S-REITs, including CLAR, CLAS, KDCREIT, KREIT, and LREIT.

In Thailand, Krungthai Card is projected to report a slight increase in Q3 2025 net profit, supported by efficient asset quality control and anticipated government stimulus. Thanachart Capital, however, is expected to see a decline in quarterly net profit due to seasonal factors, though long-term improvements are anticipated from Q4 2025.

Guzman y Gomez, the popular Mexican fast-food chain, is set to launch a limited-edition butter chicken filling as part of its GYG Goes Local series. This new offering will be available from 14 October to 23 November 2025, showcasing a unique fusion of Singaporean and Mexican culinary traditions. The butter chicken filling, featuring a creamy blend of tomato, butter, and traditional Indian spices, can be enjoyed in various GYG favourites, including burritos, bowls, tacos, and quesadillas.

For the first time, the butter chicken sauce will also be offered as a top-up for just $1, making it a perfect addition to GYG’s popular Chipotle Fries and Nacho Fries. This initiative aims to cater to local tastes whilst maintaining the brand’s signature Mexican flair.

The introduction of this new flavour is part of Guzman y Gomez’s strategy to reimagine homely favourites with bold local flavours. The company is keen to provide its customers with an authentic taste experience that resonates with Singaporeans.

As part of the launch, Guzman y Gomez is offering media drops to select offices, allowing recipients to be among the first to sample this exclusive flavour. This limited-time offering is expected to attract both loyal customers and new patrons eager to try the innovative blend of flavours.

INFINITIX Inc, a leader in GPU resource management and AI infrastructure, is set to demonstrate its cutting-edge AI solutions in collaboration with Graid Technology Inc at Tech Week Singapore 2025. The event, taking place on 8–9 October at Marina Bay Sands, will feature their joint innovation, “The Unified AI Infrastructure of Compute and Storage,” at Booth V20 in the Big Data & AI World zone.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is INFINITIX’s AIStack platform, which integrates MLOps and GPU resource management to address inefficiencies in enterprise AI workflows. AIStack promises to enhance GPU utilisation to over 90%, accelerate workload execution by tenfold, and reduce environment setup time to just one minute. Key features include a Rapid Container Service built on Kubernetes and a High-Performance Computing engine powered by Elastic Distributed Training, enabling efficient parallel processing of large datasets.

Graid Technology’s SupremeStore complements AIStack with its next-generation AI HPC storage solution. Featuring a dual-controller high-availability design and integrated with SupremeRAID SR-1010 and BeeGFS, SupremeStore eliminates storage IO bottlenecks, offering up to 80GB/s throughput and linear scalability.

WenYu Chen, CEO of INFINITIX, highlighted the significance of this collaboration: “As AI adoption accelerates, the disconnect between compute and storage has become the primary bottleneck to innovation. Our unified infrastructure developed with Graid Technology directly solves this challenge.”

DBS has released a report forecasting a promising outlook for the Singapore market as the year draws to a close. The report, dated 2 October 2025, suggests that small and mid-cap stocks are set for an eventful fourth quarter, with a focus on value plays ahead of the anticipated Value Unlock package.

The report indicates a strategic shift towards value stocks, suggesting investors revisit technology and industrial sectors. This comes as the market positions itself for a potential rally by the end of the year. DBS’s analysis highlights the importance of these sectors in the current economic climate, suggesting they may offer significant opportunities for growth.

The report also serves as a reminder of the bank’s interests, noting that DBS Vickers Securities and DBS Bank Ltd, part of the DBS Group, may have dealings in the securities mentioned. The bank advises that the information provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

As the market anticipates the Value Unlock package, investors are encouraged to consider the potential of small and mid-cap stocks, which could play a pivotal role in the market’s performance in the coming months. The focus on value plays and key sectors like technology and industrials underscores the strategic opportunities available in the Singapore market as 2025 comes to a close.

DoorDash has officially completed its acquisition of Deliveroo, marking its entry into the Singapore market. Despite the change in ownership, the Deliveroo app will continue to operate under its existing brand, offering ready-to-eat meals, groceries, and its Shopping arm. This transition is part of DoorDash’s strategy to leverage its global scale and technology to enhance service delivery.

Tony Xu, DoorDash’s co-founder and CEO, emphasised that this acquisition represents “the beginning of a new chapter, not the end of an old one.” He assured Deliveroo’s seven million active customers that the user experience would become “even faster, smarter, and more delightful.” Additionally, Xu highlighted plans to introduce new tools for the 178,000 merchants on the platform to help them thrive both online and offline.

For Deliveroo’s 130,000 riders, Xu promised to maintain flexibility whilst enhancing safety and support features. Miki Kuusi, co-founder of Wolt, will assume the role of CEO of Deliveroo, alongside his duties as Head of International at DoorDash. Kuusi expressed admiration for Deliveroo’s achievements, stating, “I couldn’t be more excited to learn from each other as we take our shared mission to the next level.”

This acquisition is expected to bolster DoorDash’s presence in Singapore and enhance the delivery experience for consumers, merchants, and riders alike. As DoorDash integrates its technology and logistics capabilities, the company aims to drive economic vitality and innovation in the region.

Singapore has intensified its support for aviation training and development in Africa and the Caribbean by signing three new Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the civil aviation authorities of Cameroon, the Comoros, and Guyana. The agreements, facilitated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), were formalised during the 42nd International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly in Montreal, Canada.

The MOUs with Cameroon and the Comoros, signed on 25 September 2025, involve collaboration in exchanging information and best practices in civil aviation administration, safety oversight, and air traffic management. These initiatives aim to bolster capacity building through training programmes that may be conducted in Singapore, the respective states, or virtually.

From 2025 to 2028, CAAS plans to support African states with 195 fellowships, eight scholarships, and 12 in-region training programmes through the Singapore Aviation Academy. This builds on existing cooperation in the region.

The MOU with Guyana, signed on 29 September 2025, focuses on delivering training programmes and exchanging expertise in human resources management and air transport regulation. This partnership extends the ongoing training cooperation between Singapore and Caribbean states.

Han Kok Juan, Director-General of CAAS, expressed Singapore’s commitment to sharing expertise globally, stating, “We are honoured to partner Cameroon, the Comoros, and Guyana and hope that the partnership can help build mindshare for Singapore and bring our countries and people closer together.”

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has unveiled a Centre of Excellence for robotic-assisted surgery, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson MedTech, to equip orthopaedic surgeons with cutting-edge skills as the region’s population ages. This initiative, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding, focuses initially on total knee replacement training and research.

The Centre will serve as a primary training hub for surgeons across Southeast Asia, offering comprehensive programmes and regional preceptorship sessions. Professor Tan Mann Hong, Chairman of the Division of Musculoskeletal Sciences at SGH, highlighted the collaboration’s role in establishing Singapore as a leader in advanced surgical training, enhancing regional surgical standards.

Recent research by SGH’s Associate Professor Lincoln Liow demonstrated the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery, showing shorter surgical durations and improved patient outcomes compared to conventional methods. The study was presented at the SICOT 2025 conference in Madrid.

With SGH performing over 2,500 knee replacements annually, demand is expected to rise significantly. Associate Professor Darren Tay emphasised the importance of patient-centred care, stating that surgeons must understand both conventional and cutting-edge options to deliver necessary care. The MoU was signed on 30 September 2025.

Gong cha, a leading global tea brand, has temporarily closed its Singapore outlets as it prepares for a brand relaunch in 2026. The decision follows the non-renewal of its agreement with the current Master franchisee, paving the way for new local franchise partnerships. The relaunch will feature the ‘Gong cha 2.0’ store design, which has already seen success in South Korea and Japan by reducing customer wait times and enhancing satisfaction.

Founded in Taiwan in 2006, Gong cha has expanded to over 2,100 locations across 28 markets. The brand’s innovative ‘Gong cha 2.0’ concept aims to modernise the traditional bubble tea model with scalable and adaptable store designs, underpinned by technology to improve customer experience.

Paul Reynish, Global CEO of Gong cha, expressed enthusiasm for the Singapore relaunch, stating, “Singapore is a really important market for us, and we’re really excited about relaunching in 2026.” He highlighted the success of the new store design in other markets, noting increased customer satisfaction and repeat visits.

The relaunch is part of Gong cha’s broader strategy to establish a market-leading position in Singapore, leveraging its award-winning store design. Reynish thanked the Singapore team for their dedication and assured customers that the brand will return with a more innovative offering.

Singapore office Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have demonstrated robust performance in the third quarter of 2025, according to Morningstar’s latest report. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment influenced by US trade policies, these REITs have benefited from resilient occupancy rates and strong rental reversions in the first half of the year. This performance has eased some concerns over soft leasing demand.

The report highlights that Singapore REITs are currently trading at a 17% discount to book value, with office REITs experiencing the steepest discounts. Xavier Lee, an equity analyst, noted that whilst the risk of significant asset devaluation remains low, investors should consider the current trading discounts as an opportunity.

In addition to office REITs, trends in the retail and industrial sectors were also examined, with top picks identified for potential investors. The ongoing trade negotiations between the US and its partners continue to contribute to market uncertainty, but the resilience shown by Singapore’s office REITs offers a positive outlook.

GrabMaps, a hyperlocal mapping service from Southeast Asia, has announced its first countrywide mapping partnership outside the region with Mongolia’s Tino Super App. This collaboration aims to develop a comprehensive digital map of Mongolia, supporting the country’s digital ecosystem and enabling services such as ride-hailing, delivery, tourism, and e-commerce.

The partnership will initially focus on mapping Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, before expanding to other cities. Vehicles equipped with GrabMaps’ proprietary hardware, KartaCam 2 and KartaDashCam, will gather detailed mapping data, including road networks, street names, and traffic signals. This data will be processed to create a frequently updated and data-rich map of Mongolia.

GrabMaps will provide Tino with mapping software and on-demand map services APIs, enhancing geolocation capabilities and navigation accuracy. These tools will support Tino’s taxi and delivery services, set to launch later this year.

Sriram Iyer, Head of Product, Geo and Fulfilment at Grab, highlighted the importance of advanced maps for superapps, stating, “GrabMaps technology has been instrumental for Grab’s own ability to adjust its marketplace to fast-changing conditions.” Erdenebayar Sainjargal, CEO of Teso Investment, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, noting that GrabMaps’ technology will improve the reliability of Tino’s services.

This initiative marks a significant step for both companies, with GrabMaps extending its reach beyond Southeast Asia and Tino poised to become Mongolia’s first superapp, contributing to the country’s expanding digital economy.