OREANDA-NEWS. There are no surprises that food and beverage, or F&B, plays a large role in Singapore’s economy and stock market. Singapore’s deep and diverse street food heritage has evolved over the generations into a market that serves just about every type of food you can think of to customers across all points of the income chain.

Together 44 stocks relevant to F&B have a combined market capitalisation of S$30 million  - which represents 3.2% of the total market capitalisation of all stocks listed on Singapore Exchange (SGX). The 10 largest F&B plays make up nine-tenths of the capitalisation of the segment, mainly due to the relative size of Straits Times Index (STI) component Thai Beverage PCL. Like the 44 stocks, these 10 F&B stocks are involved in various aspects of F&B production and/or distribution.

The ten stocks which have the largest capitalisation of the group of 44 are detailed in the table below. Please note these stock are made up of companies that have a core business in F&B hence they can include companies that are categorised to other sector classifications. Hence the 44 companies are more of the mid to downstream players in F&B as opposed to plantations with a commodity focus. To access the stock profile in StockFacts please click on the stock name.

Source: SGX My Gateway (Data as of 9 Nov 2015) * Please note from S$0.80 offer price in August 2014.

Recent Performances of the Ten Largest F&B stocks

There has been a trend of consolidation for Asia’s biggest food stocks over the recent three years. The Bloomberg Asia Pacific Food Index which is made up of the largest capitalised food stocks of the Asia Region ended last month 2.4% higher than its end of October 2012 level. In the three year period up to October 2012, however the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Food Index had gained 35.3%.

The regional F&B industry is also highly diverse which can account for the scope of mixed performances amongst the relevant stocks. Market prices of food and beverage prices have also varied. In the latest IMF Commodity Market Monthly, Table 1 shows that between the end of 2012 and Sep 2015, the market price of Wheat had declined 44.7% while the market price of Robusta Coffee had declined 20.5%.  Meanwhile the market price of Fish had gained 4.2% and market price of Poultry had gained 22.0% over the same period.

Over the past one month, the 10 largest F&B stocks listed on SGX have averaged a 6.3% price gain taking their year to date average performance to -12.4%. Meanwhile the FTSE Asian Food and Beverage Index declined 1.8% over the past month taking its year to date performance to -7.1%.

Largest F&B Stock

Thai Beverage PCL’s business consists of four segments - spirits, beer, non-alcoholic beverage, and food. As of the end of 2014 Thai Beverage PCL had 116 subsidiaries including 18 distilleries, three breweries and 10 non-alcohol beverage production facilities. The Group has an extensive distribution network covering 400,000 points of sales in Thailand. Thai Beverage PCL has an international presence in 90 countries and engages in several distillery operations overseas – in its 2014 Annual Report Thai Beverage PCL segmented 95% of its revenue to Thailand while noting that revenue is based on the geographical location of customers. Thai Beverage PCL maintains a 3% weight in the STI and also represents the largest Thailand play to be listed on SGX. Over the past three years, Thai Beverage PCL generated a 61.9% price gain compared to the Stock Exchange of Thailand SET50 Index which gained 3.5%.

Thai Beverage also own the majority stake of Fraser & Neave after accumulating units between 2012 and 2013.

Largest Singapore-Focused F&B Stock

The largest capitalised F&B stock focused on the F&B market in Singapore is Sheng Siong Group was established in 1985 and listed on SGX in 2011. Sheng Siong Group maintained 37 supermarkets/grocery stores at the end of its 2014 financial year, which were located all across Singapore.  The chain stores are designed to provide customers with both “wet and dry” shopping options ranging from a wide assortment of live, fresh and chilled produce, such as seafood, meat and vegetables to packaged, processed, frozen and/or preserved food products as well as general merchandise, including toiletries and essential household products. Since listing at 33.0 cents a share in August 2011,  the share price of Sheng Siong Group has risen to 84.5 cents.

Most Recent Stock to join the F&B Segment

On Monday Jumbo Group listed on the Catalist Board. Jumbo is a home-grown company that owns, operates and licenses a network of food and beverage (F&B) outlets across Singapore, China and Japan. In addition to its Jumbo Seafood chain of restaurants, Jumbo owns other F&B brands including JPOT, Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh and Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine.  The Group also provides catering services in Singapore and retails its own brand of packaged sauces and spice mixes for its signature dishes.

The offer price of the stock was 25 cents and the first day of trading saw shares in the stock end up 9 cents at 34 cents. The stocks market capitalisation of S$205 million positioned it as the fourteenth largest capitalised stock of the F&B segment as of the Monday close.