OREANDA-NEWS. The Consumer Staples sector encompasses several industry groups, one of which being Food, Beverage & Tobacco, as categorised by the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®).

The sub-segment of Food, Beverage & Tobacco comprises brewers, distillers & vintners, producers of non-alcoholic beverages, agricultural products, packaged foods & meats, and tobacco.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) lists 37 Food, Beverage & Tobacco companies. The 10 largest stocks have a combined market capitalisation of S$53.1 billion. These stocks are categorised to the sub-industries of Agricultural Products, Brewers, Distillers & Vintners, and Packaged Foods & Meats. Agricultural Products comprises crop growers and owners of plantations, Brewers produce beer and malt liquors, while Distillers & Vintners produce other alcoholic beverages. Lastly, Packaged Foods & Meats consists of producers of packaged foods such as dairy products, fruit juices, meats, poultry, fish, and pet food.

In the month of October 2015, the 10 Food, Beverage & Tobacco stocks averaged a 11.5% total, retracing the 23.6% decline in the first nine months of the year. This brought the three-year total returns to a 5.7% decline. The 10 stocks currently maintain an average indicative dividend yield of 2.1%. As of last Friday’s close, the 10 stocks were trading at 25.6% below their 12-month highs and 35.6% above their 12-month lows. Two of the 10 stocks recorded their 12-month lows in September, with six others achieving 12-month lows in August.

Of the 10 largest stocks categorised to the Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector, the five best performers in the month of October were Japfa, Wilmar International, Golden-Agri Resources, Super Group and Indofood Agri Resources.

Name SGX Code Market Cap in S$bn Total Return YTD % (as of 30 Sept 15) Total Return Oct 15 % Total Return: 3 Yrs % Dvd Ind Yld % GICS® Sub Industry Name
Wilmar International F34 19.3 -18.7 21.8 6.0 2.6 Agricultural Products
Thai Beverage Public Company Y92 17.1 2.6 -1.5 71.6 3.3 Distillers & Vintners
Golden Agri-Resources E5H 4.8 -27.3 18.2 -35.3 1.6 Agricultural Products
First Resources EB5 3.1 -10.4 14.6 2.4 1.8 Agricultural Products
Fraser and Neave F99 3.1 -18.7 -1.4 -6.9 2.3 Brewers
Petra Foods P34 1.5 -32.5 -3.6 -1.0 1.7 Packaged Foods & Meats
Bumitama Agri P8Z 1.4 -22.3 0.6 -16.1 1.8 Agricultural Products
Super Group S10 1.1 -30.8 16.9 -19.1 3.2 Packaged Foods & Meats
Japfa UD2 0.8 -46.4 33.9 N/A N/A Packaged Foods & Meats
Indofood Agri Resources 5JS 0.8 -31.2 15.2 -52.9 0.9 Packaged Foods & Meats
Average     -23.6 11.5 -5.7 2.1  

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 6 November 2015)

Wilmar International

Wilmar International is an agribusiness company that operates in the People’s Republic of China and internationally.Wilmar’s business activities include oil palm cultivation, oilseed crushing, edible oil refining, sugar milling and refining, specialty fat, oleochemical, biodiesel and fertiliser manufacturing and grain processing. It has over 500 manufacturing plants and a distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia and some 50 other countries.

Thai Beverage Public Company

Thai Beverage Public Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and distributes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Thailand and internationally. ThaiBev's business consists of four segments - spirits, beer, non-alcoholic beverage, and food. As of 31 December 2014, it has 116 subsidiaries, including 18 distilleries, 3 breweries and 10 non-alcohol beverage production facilities. The Group has a distribution network covering 400,000 points of sales in Thailand. ThaiBev has an international presence in 90 countries and engages in several distillery operations overseas; it has 5 production facilities in Scotland, which are responsible for the production of single malt scotch whiskies such as Balblair, Old Pulteney and Speyburn. The company also owns 1 distillery in China, which produces a Chinese spirit branded Yulinquan.

The company website is: http://www.thaibev.com/

Golden Agri-Resources

Golden Agri-Resources operates an a palm oil plantation company with a total planted area of 484,472 hectares as at 30 June 2015. It has integrated operations focused on the production of palm-based edible oil and fat. Golden Agri-Resources’ primary business activities include cultivating and harvesting of oil palm trees; processing of fresh fruit bunch into crude palm oil ("CPO") and palm kernel; merchandising and refining CPO into value-added products such as cooking oil, margarine and shortening. It also has integrated operations in China including a deep-sea port, oilseeds crushing plants, production capabilities for refined edible oil products as well as other food products such as noodles.

The company website is: http://www.goldenagri.com.sg/

First Resources

First Resources operates as a palm oil producer, managing over 190,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia. It’s core business activities include cultivating oil palms, harvesting the fresh fruit bunches and milling them into crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK). In addition to plantations and palm oil mills, the Group through its refinery, fractionation, biodiesel and kernel crushing plants, processes its CPO and PK production into higher value palm-based products such as biodiesel, refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) olein and RBD stearin, palm kernel oil and palm kernel expeller.

The company website is: http://www.first-resources.com/

Fraser and Neave

Fraser and Neave, through its subsidiaries, operates in the food and beverage, and publishing and printing industries. F&N is present in 12 countries spanning Asia Pacific, Europe and the USA, and employs over 8,500 people worldwide. Their products include 100PLUS isotonic drinks, F&N NUTRISOY soya milk, F&N sparkling drinks, F&N ICE MOUNTAIN bottled water, F&N SEASONS  Asian drinks and fruit teas, F&N FRUIT TREE  juice drinks and F&N  cordials. As a publisher of varying formats such as books, directories, magazines and digital platforms, their imprints include MARSHALL CAVENDISH EDUCATION, MARSHALL CAVENDISH BUSINESS  and MARSHALL CAVENDISH EDITIONS.

The company website is: http://www.fraserandneave.com/

Petra Foods

Petra Foods manufactures, markets, and distributes chocolate confectionery and consumer products. It offers chocolate and sugar confectionery products, such as molded chocolate, dragees, enrobed wafers, and wafers and biscuits. The company is also involved in the marketing and distribution of healthcare and other consumer products, as well as coffeemix products and other convenience beverages. It markets its products through sales agents and distributors in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, and other countries in Southeast Asia.

The company website is: http://www.petrafoods.com/

Bumitama Agri

Bumitama Agri engages in the production of Palm Oil ("PO") & Palm Kernel ("PK"), with majority of their oil palm plantation in Indonesia. The company’s primary business activities are cultivating oil palm trees, as well as harvesting and processing fresh palm fruit bunches ("FFB") into PO and PK. As of 31 December 2014, it had approximately 199,242 hectares of land (including land under the Plasma Programme) in the three provinces of Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Riau, of which 153,268 hectares are planted area.

The company website is: http://www.bumitama-agri.com/

Super Group

Super Group manufactures and distributes food and beverage products primarily in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The company operates through, Branded Consumer and Food Ingredients segments. It offers branded consumer products, including instant coffee mixes, instant cereals, instant soymilk, instant tea mixes, instant cup noodles, canned drinks, and non-dairy creamers. The company offers its products under the Super Coffee, Super Charcoal Roasted White Coffee, OWL, Super NutreMill Cereal, Super Power, Super Tea Infusions, Caf? Nova, Super Cup Noodles, Gold Caf?, Gold Eagle, Coffee King, YeYe, Yest?, and Negresco brands. It also manufactures food ingredients for food and beverage markets, which include spray-dried coffee, freeze-dried coffee, and non-dairy creamer products.

The company website is: http://www.supergroupltd.com/

Japfa

Japfa is an industrial agri-food company that operates in Asia. Their primary business activities include the production of dairy, protein staples (poultry, beef, swine & aquaculture) and packaged food. The company employs over 28,000 people across distribution facilities in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, India and China.

The company website is: http://japfa.com/

Indofood Agri Resources

Indofood Agri Resources, a vertically integrated agribusiness company, engages in the research and development, oil palm seed breeding, cultivation of oil palm plantations, production and refining of crude palm oil, cultivation of rubber, and sugar cane and industrial timber plantations activities. It operates in two segments, Plantations, and Edible Oils and Fats. As of 30 September 2015, the company has a total planted area of 299,418 hectares across Indonesia and internationally.

The company website is: http://www.indofoodagri.com/