Industry News

Annica Holdings Limited, listed on the SGX Catalist, has announced a rights issue to raise up to S$5.23m in net proceeds. The company lodged an offer information statement detailing the rights issue, which is aimed at strengthening its financial standing and supporting future growth initiatives.

The rights issue will provide existing shareholders with the opportunity to purchase additional shares, thereby increasing their stake in the company. This move is part of Annica’s strategy to enhance its capital base and ensure long-term sustainability. The funds raised will be utilised to support the company’s operational needs and potential expansion plans.

Annica Holdings, which operates in various sectors including energy and resources, sees this capital raising effort as a crucial step in reinforcing its market position. The company is optimistic that the additional funds will enable it to explore new opportunities and improve its competitive edge.

Travellers and residents in Singapore can now use DBS Remit to fund Weixin Pay wallets globally, enhancing cross-border payment options. This development follows the initial launch in February 2026, allowing users to transfer funds directly to Weixin accounts verified by Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macau identification documents.

Since the February launch, DBS Remit has experienced significant growth, with the number of customers using the service quadrupling and transaction volumes increasing eightfold. The average transaction size has risen to over S$800, indicating growing customer confidence in using DBS Remit for everyday payments in China.

P’ing Lim, Regional Head of Ecosystems & Cross Border Payments at DBS Bank, highlighted the importance of seamless payment integration, stating, “Consumers today no longer view payments in isolation, especially in China, where digital wallet apps are ubiquitous and deeply woven into everyday life.”

The new feature not only facilitates payments but also extends to services such as transport bookings and food ordering, reducing transaction fees typically associated with credit card payments. By funding digital wallets directly through DBS Remit, users can avoid additional platform fees.

DBS continues to strengthen its cross-border payments ecosystem, reflecting rising consumer demand for intuitive payment experiences across Asia. The bank is seeing strong growth in regional scan-to-pay and cross-border payment linkages in markets like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This expansion underscores DBS’s commitment to supporting customers’ evolving payment needs across interconnected digital ecosystems in Asia.

Fingular’s digital financial services brand in India, TrustPaisa, has transitioned to a fully AI-driven system for evaluating consumer financing applications. This move, announced on 4 June 2026, allows all customer applications to be processed in real time by artificial intelligence, removing the need for manual intervention.

The new AI-powered decisioning framework evaluates applications based on partner-approved credit policies, risk parameters, and regulatory requirements. This ensures that each application is assessed within seconds, regardless of the time or volume of applications. As a result, TrustPaisa’s specialists can now focus on strategic tasks such as monitoring processing quality and overseeing decision controls.

For customers, this transition means a faster and more straightforward application process, with immediate resolutions available at any time. The system maintains consistent evaluation standards across all applications, enhancing customer experience.

Pushkar Prasad, CEO of TrustPaisa, stated, “This transition marks an important step in the development of TrustPaisa’s technology platform. By strengthening AI-enabled decisioning, we are improving speed, consistency, and operational efficiency whilst ensuring that risk controls, governance, and customer protection remain central to our approach.”

The AI system also improves operational efficiency by reducing the cost of evaluating each application, thereby strengthening portfolio resilience. This transition is part of TrustPaisa’s broader technology roadmap, which includes further automation in customer onboarding, servicing, and collections.

HDB resale prices in Singapore experienced a 0.3% increase in May 2026, reversing the previous month’s decline, according to the latest report by 99.co and SRX. The resale volume also saw a significant rebound, rising by 10.1% to 2,139 flats, although it remained 6.3% below the figures from May 2025.

The report highlights that the price increase was driven by 5-room and Executive flats, which saw rises of 0.9% and 1.0%, respectively. In contrast, 3-room flats experienced a slight decrease of 0.3%. The overall price index reached 208.9, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 0.2%.

Luqman Hakim, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at 99.co, noted that the market’s range-bound nature is due to supply catching up with demand. An estimated 13,500 flats are reaching their five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) in 2026, nearly double the number from 2025, which is helping to temper price growth.

In the high-end segment, the number of million-dollar flats transacted rose to 166, up from 138 in April. These transactions accounted for 7.8% of the total resale volume. Bukit Merah led the way with 22 million-dollar flats, followed by Toa Payoh and Queenstown, each with 21.

The highest recorded transaction for the month was a 5-room flat at The Pinnacle@Duxton, sold for S$1.63m. In Non-Mature Estates, the highest price was S$1.232m for an Executive flat in Hougang Street 21. As the market continues to adjust, the balance between supply and demand will be crucial in shaping future trends.

The latest Mulesoft Connectivity Benchmark report from Salesforce reveals that Singaporean organisations are set to increase their use of AI agents by 58% over the next two years. Despite this growth, 50% of these agents currently operate in isolated silos, posing significant orchestration and governance challenges for IT leaders.

AI agents are increasingly seen as vital to enterprise productivity, with 98% of Singapore IT leaders acknowledging their role in enhancing employee experiences. However, the report highlights that only 27% of the 1,002 applications used by enterprises are integrated, leading to concerns about disconnected workflows and the rise of shadow AI.

To tackle these issues, organisations are turning to API-driven architectures. APIs are described as the “connective tissue” that can transform fragmented AI tools into a cohesive system. Currently, 45% of Singaporean organisations are using APIs to connect and govern AI, with 96% of IT leaders agreeing that seamless data integration is crucial for AI success.

Gavin Barfield, Vice President and CTO of Solutions at Salesforce ASEAN, emphasised the importance of a unified foundation, stating, “Agents can only be as effective as the data and business logic they’re grounded in.” Kurt Anderson from Deloitte Consulting LLP added that success requires “reimagining integration strategies to build a foundation that is sustainable and secure.”

As Singapore moves towards becoming an Agentic Enterprise, the focus will remain on overcoming integration challenges to fully leverage the potential of AI agents.

CapitaLand Ascendas REIT has successfully acquired the industrial property at 5 Tuas Avenue 5, a transaction facilitated by CBRE’s Industrial Capital Markets team. This acquisition underscores the ongoing allure of Singapore’s industrial sector for both domestic and international investors, particularly in a low-interest rate environment where high-quality industrial assets are in demand.

The property, located in a strategic area, is expected to attract income-focused investors due to its strong specifications and reliable income streams. According to Loh Lee Fen, Head of Industrial Capital Markets at CBRE Singapore, “Investors recognise that quality industrial stock — particularly assets with strong specifications, strategic locations, and creditworthy tenants — remains in relatively short supply.”

Singapore’s industrial real estate market continues to benefit from its position as a regional hub and its safe haven status amidst global uncertainty. The ongoing investment in advanced manufacturing and logistics infrastructure further enhances its appeal. Loh added, “These fundamentals continue to draw long-term capital to the sector, and we expect that interest to remain well-supported over the medium term.”

This acquisition is a testament to the robust demand for industrial properties in Singapore, driven by structural tailwinds and strategic investments. As the market continues to evolve, such transactions are likely to remain a focal point for investors seeking stable returns.

Singapore’s technology sector is experiencing a surge in institutional inflows and valuation expansion, primarily driven by demand in semiconductor testing, equipment, and AI hardware. This trend has positioned these segments as the main drivers of the sector’s re-rating in 2026. Companies such as AEM, UMS, and Frencken have led the valuation expansion, with price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios moving sharply higher, averaging around 50x and a median of 32x.

In the AI hardware segment, InnoTek has seen a significant re-rating, with a current P/E of approximately 83x and a forward P/E of about 22x for the financial year 2026. This reflects expectations of revenue growth as AI-driven capacity and customer traction increase.

The semiconductor value chain in Singapore spans from chip design to final hardware, with the local sector primarily focused on equipment, testing, and hardware. Among the 49 stocks in the sector, a dozen companies are directly involved in semiconductor production and testing. These include AEM Holdings, Sunright, and Global Testing Corporation, among others.

Institutional flows in 2026 have totalled S$582.5m, with the semiconductor production segment absorbing the majority of net buying. AEM Holdings, UMS Integration, and Frencken Group have been the top beneficiaries, driven by AI-driven semiconductor demand.

The hardware and systems segment, which includes companies like Venture Corporation and PC Partner Group, also saw positive inflows. This reflects a rotation towards semiconductor execution and AI hardware exposure, highlighting the sector’s robust growth potential.

GetGo Carsharing, Singapore’s largest carsharing service, recently hosted an exclusive event to promote sustainable mobility by highlighting the financial burdens of car ownership. The event, held on 19 May, featured a symbolic car smash to draw attention to the high costs associated with owning a vehicle, including the S$100,000 Certificate of Entitlement (COE).

The event showcased a decommissioned vehicle marked with typical ownership expenses such as road tax, insurance, and depreciation. Participants were invited to smash the car, symbolising the breaking of financial constraints tied to car ownership. This dramatic demonstration served as the focal point of GetGo’s “Smash the $100k Burden. Reclaim Your Freedom to Drive.” campaign.

The campaign aims to encourage Singaporeans to consider carsharing as a viable and commitment-free alternative to owning a car. With COE prices soaring, GetGo’s initiative seeks to provide a more accessible and environmentally friendly option for those needing occasional access to a vehicle.

By offering a sustainable alternative, GetGo hopes to alleviate the financial pressures of car ownership whilst promoting a greener approach to mobility. The campaign also includes in-house social media content to further spread the message of sustainable transportation options.

A recent study by Airwallex and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has uncovered that inefficiencies in legacy Business-to-Business (B2B) cross-border payment systems are costing Singaporean businesses approximately US$7b each year. This ‘Global Growth Tariff’ highlights the hidden costs that businesses face due to outdated payment infrastructures.

The research attributes these costs to several factors. Payment failures, which require manual intervention, result in repair fees amounting to US$420m annually in Singapore. Additionally, foreign exchange spreads and correspondent banking fees globally erode about US$6.3b in business capital each year. Slow settlement cycles further immobilise US$220m in working capital in Singapore, impacting liquidity and operational efficiency.

Firdevs Abacioglu, Head of Data Science and AI at Airwallex, stated, “Legacy payment systems are quietly draining billions from businesses that can least afford it. Payment failures, high FX fees, and slow settlement cycles don’t just hurt the bottom line — they freeze the capital businesses need to move fast in an unpredictable world.”

The study emphasises the significant impact on Singapore, a major global trade and financial hub, where these inefficiencies translate into higher costs and reduced liquidity. Liam Daly, Senior Economist at Cebr, noted, “For a globally connected economy like Singapore, these frictions translate directly into higher costs, reduced liquidity and less efficient capital allocation.”

Airwallex plans to release further research in June, which will explore how the Global Growth Tariff varies by industry and business size, providing detailed insights into sectors such as SaaS, tourism, and e-commerce.

Singapore enterprises are grappling with significant data trust challenges as they strive to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to a new global study by Veeam Software. The research, unveiled at VeeamON London, highlights that whilst 85% of Singapore organisations are using or piloting AI agents, all report data challenges have hindered their AI progress. Only 25% of these organisations are confident in detecting AI systems operating outside approved parameters.

The study, which surveyed 600 senior executives globally, underscores the rapid pace of AI adoption outstripping the development of governance structures. In Singapore, 70% of executives feel competitive pressure to accelerate AI, with 25% describing this pressure as “intense,” the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

A key concern for Singapore executives is ‘Shadow AI’, with 45% citing the use of their data for external AI training as a major risk. This is significantly higher than the global average of 31%. The study also notes that 50% of Singapore’s C-suite are worried about personal data misuse and cross-border data transfer restrictions affecting AI systems.

Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam, stated, “Most organisations don’t have an AI adoption problem; they have an AI trust problem.” He emphasised the need for secure, governed, and resilient data to ensure safe AI scaling.

The findings suggest that Singapore’s AI ambitions are closely tied to its data-trust posture, with regulatory frameworks focusing on data stewardship. As AI systems become more autonomous, the nature of failures is shifting, necessitating precise recovery strategies to manage potential risks effectively.