OREANDA-NEWS. Singapore Exchange (SGX) lists more than 50 stocks that represent the Consumer Staples Sector as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®). The consumer staples sector is widely diversified with businesses involved in food, agricultural products and household products. Consumer Staples Sector can be further broken down into various industries and sub industries. Based on market capitalisation, the sub industries with the highest weightage are Agricultural Products with 36.3%, followed by Distillers and Vintners with 20.7% and Food Retail with 19.7%.

The sub industry weightings that make up the core consumer staples sector in Singapore are detailed in the chart below.

Source: Bloomberg (Data as of 14 January 2015)

Within the Consumer Staples sector, four of the five highest capitalised stocks - Wilmar International, Thai Beverage, Golden Agri-Resources and Olam International are also constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI). These four stocks have a combined market capitalisation of S\$49.6 billion and they generated an averaged 1.4% total return year-to-date. These four Consumer Staples stocks averaged a 12.5% total return in 2014 and a 1.4% gain in the 2015 year to date. Please note that Golden-Agri Resources and Olam International were also the fourth and ninth most active stock by turover last year.

Details of the top 20 capitalised Consumer Staples stocks are tabled below. The broader group of 20 stocks averaged a decline in total return of 0.5% in 2014 and a 2.0% gain in 2015 year to date. Among the 20 largest capitlaised Consumer Staples stocks the biggest year to date gains were generated by China Minzhong Food Corp, Japfa and Thai Beverage PCL.

Top 20 capitalised Consumer Staples stocks

Name SGX Code Mkt Cap S\$B Total Return 2014 % Px Chg Pct YTD % Total Return YTD % Dvd Ind Yld % GICS SubInd Name
WILMAR INTERNATIONAL F34 20.5 -3.1 -0.6 -0.6 2.3 Agricultural Products
THAI BEVERAGE PCL Y92 18.3 31.5 7.2 7.2 2.1 Distillers & Vintners
DAIRY FARM INTL HLDGS D01 16.1 1.7 0.9 0.9 2.5 Food Retail
GOLDEN AGRI-RESOURCES E5H 5.9 -14.9 0.0 0.9 2.0 Agricultural Products
OLAM INTERNATIONAL O32 4.9 36.4 -2.0 -2.0 2.5 Food Distributors
FRASER AND NEAVE F99 3.9 -8.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 Brewers
FIRST RESOURCES EB5 3.1 -10.1 4.3 4.3 2.3 Agricultural Products
PETRA FOODS P34 2.3 20.5 1.3 1.3 1.2 Packaged Foods & Meats
BUMITAMA AGRI P8Z 1.8 12.3 -1.0 -1.0 1.3 Agricultural Products
SUPER GROUP S10 1.3 -38.0 -2.6 -2.6 4.0 Packaged Foods & Meats
SHENG SIONG GROUP OV8 1.1 18.2 2.2 2.2 4.1 Food Retail
INDOFOOD AGRI RESOURCES 5JS 1.1 -17.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 Packaged Foods & Meats
JAPFA UD2 1.0  -31.3 7.3 7.3 N/A Packaged Foods & Meats
YEO HIAP SENG Y03 1.0 -27.2 1.7 1.7 1.1 Packaged Foods & Meats
CHINA MINZHONG FOOD CORP K2N 0.7 1.3 22.7 22.7 4.0 Packaged Foods & Meats
DEL MONTE PACIFIC D03 0.6 -18.0 -3.0 -3.0 N/A Packaged Foods & Meats
CHINA FISHERY GROUP B0Z 0.6 -26.8 1.8 1.8 N/A Packaged Foods & Meats
MEWAH INTERNATIONAL INC MV4 0.6 -15.7 -3.8 -3.8 3.8 Packaged Foods & Meats
QAF Q01 0.5 24.0 -0.5 -0.5 5.2 Packaged Foods & Meats
GMG GLOBAL 5IM 0.5 -37.9 1.6 1.6 1.5 Agricultural Products

Source: Bloomberg (Data as of 14 January 2015)

Wilmar International

Wilmar International operates as an agribusiness company in the People’s Republic of China and internationally. It operates in seven segments: Palm and Laurics, Oilseeds and Grains, Consumer Products, Plantations and Palm Oil Mills, Sugar Milling, Sugar Merchandising and Processing, and Others. The company is engaged in the oil palm cultivation and milling activities that primarily provide crude palm oil and palm kernel; and milling of fresh palm fruit bunches. Last November, Wilmar was recognized as most improved in sector for corporate action on deforestation.

Wilmar International has a market capitalization of S\$20.5 billion and generated a 2014 total return of -3.1%. On 11 November 2014, the company reported their revenue for the third quarter ended 30 September 2014, decreased by 2.7% to US\$11.5 billion from the corresponding quarter last year. The stock went ex-dividend on 14 August 2014, distributing S\$0.02 per share in dividends.

Thai Beverage PCL

Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, produces and distributes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Thailand and internationally. The company also provides chilled frozen foods and snacks; and light construction bricks, fertilizers, animal feed and supplementary animal feed, etc. Last November, Thai Beverage PCL unveiled its “Vision 2020” strategic roadmap for its group- to push core brands and key markets for each product group.

Thai Beverage PCL has a market capitalization of S\$18.3 billion and the stock generated a 2014 total return of 31.5%. On 14 November 2014, the company reported their revenue for the third quarter ended 30 September 2014, increased by 0.7% to THB35.3 billion. The stock went ex-dividend on 25 August 2014, distributing THB0.15 per share in dividends.

Dairy Farm International Holdings

Dairy Farm International Holdings is a leading pan-Asian retailer, and the Group operates supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health and beauty stores and home furnishings stores under well-known brands. Dairy Farm International Holdings is incorporated in Bermuda and has a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange as its primary listing, with secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore. On 7 November 2014, Dairy Farm International Holdings announced that it has acquired a 49% interest in Rose Pharmacy Inc. in Philippines.

Dairy Farm International Holdings has a market capitalization S\$16.1 billion and the stock generated a 2014 total return of 1.7%. On 31 July 2014, the company reported sales for the half year ended 30 June 2014, increased by 4.6% to US\$6.3 billion in the first six months of 2014. The stock went ex-dividend on 20 August 2014, distributing US\$0.065 per share in dividends.

Golden Agri-Resources

Golden Agri-Resources operates as an integrated palm oil plantation company, primarily in Indonesia and China. Its primary activities range from cultivating and harvesting oil palm trees; and processing fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel, to refining CPO into industrial and consumer products, such as cooking oil, margarine, and shortening for end-customers, restaurants, hotels, caf?s, and industrial markets. On 13 January 2015, Golden Agri-Resources acquired 10,250 shares each with a par value of IDR1,000,000 representing 28.08% of the shares in PT Duta Anugerah Indah ("DAI"), a company established in the Republic of Indonesia, for a total consideration of IDR10,250,000,000, fully settled in cash from internal resources.

Golden Agri-Resources has a market capitalization of S\$5.9 billion and the stock generated a 2014 total return of -14.9%. On 12 November 2014, the company reported their revenue for third quarter ended 30 September 2014, increased by 17.4% to US\$1.8 billion from the previous year’s quarter. The stock went ex-dividend on 2 January 2015, distributing S\$0.00408 per share in dividends.

Olam International

Olam International engages in sourcing, processing, packaging, and merchandising agricultural products. The company operates in five segments: Edible Nuts, Spices & Vegetable Ingredients; Confectionery & Beverage Ingredients; Food Staples & Packaged Foods; Industrial Raw Materials; and Commodity Financial Services. Last December, Olam International announced a proposed acquisition of the global cocoa business of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company on a base purchase price of US\$1,300 million.

Olam International has a market capitalization of S\$4.9 billion and the stock generated a total return of 36.4% in 2014. On 14 November 2014, the company reported revenue for the first quarter ended 30 September 2014 decreased by 0.5% to S\$4.3 billion from the previous quarter. The stock went ex-dividend on 4 November 2014, distributing S\$0.025 per share in dividends.

Consumer Staples Sector

According to GICS®, the Consumer Staples Sector contains companies whose businesses are less sensitive to economic cycles. It includes manufacturers and distributors of food, beverages and tobacco and producers of non-durable household goods and personal products. It also includes food & drug retailing companies as well as hypermarkets and consumer super centres.

In terms of relative price performance of the various sectors, the consumer staples sector was the second best performing sector in February and March and the least performing sector in May last year. This was illustrated in the Monday