OREANDA-NEWS. Semiconductor chips are an important component of consumer electronics in addition to the global stock market. Semiconductor businesses are defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) as those companies involved in the fabrication and manufacturing of semi-conductor chips in addition to testing and packaging of chips. Hence, semiconductor stocks form part of the Information Technology Sector. The bulk of semiconductor demand is driven by consumer’s purchasing personal computers and mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets.

The President & CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, noted that “factors that limited more robust sales in 2015 include softening demand, the strength of the dollar, and normal market trends and cyclicality. In spite of these challenges, modest market growth is projected for 2016.” In 2015, the global semiconductor industry recorded total sales of S$335.2 billion, which was  0.2% lower than the 2014 total. Incidentally the 2014 sales total was the industry’s highest-ever, as reported by the Semiconductor Industry Association. In Singapore, the largest listed semiconductor stock, UMS Holdings reported a 38% increase in FY2015 net profit to a record high of SS34.3 million from S$24.9 million in FY2014.

Singapore’s Semiconductor Sector

Singapore lists 12 Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment stocks as categorised by GICS® with a combined market capitalisation of S$733 million. As noted above, the largest capitalised of the 12 stocks  is UMS Holdings, followed by Micro-Mechanics (Holdings), CDW Holding, Ellipsiz and Manufacturing Integration Technology.

These five stocks include the most active three semiconductor stocks by turnover over the past three months - UMS Holdings,  Ellipsiz and CDW Holding. The three most active stocks by volume over the three months were Advanced Systems Automation, UMS Holdings and CPH.

In the 2016 to date, these 12 semiconductor stocks averaged a year-to-date total return of 4.2%. This compared to Bloomberg Asia Pacific Semiconductors Index and Bloomberg World Semiconductor Index, which have declined 1.9% and 3.5% respectively in SGD terms over the same period.

Recent Performance of Sector compared to Regional Indices (in SGD)

Source: SGX & Bloomberg (data as of 11 April 2016)

As illustrated above, in the month thus far, the 12 Singapore semiconductor stocks averaged a 9.9% gain in total return. This outperformed the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Semiconductors Index and Bloomberg World Semiconductor Index, which have declined 3.6% and 1.7% respectively in SGD terms over the same period.  

The five largest capitalised Semiconductor stocks in Singapore - UMS Holdings, Micro-Mechanics (Holdings), CDW Holding, Ellipsiz and Manufacturing Integration Technology - have averaged a 5.9% total return in the first seven sessions of April.

Among the 12 semiconductor stocks, AEM Holdings and Avi-Tech electronics have been the strongest performer respective year to date total returns of 50.0% and 19.7%. Last year both stocks undertook a share consolidations. The other two Semiconductor stocks that carried out share consolidation in 2015 were Ellipsiz and Global Testing Corporation.

AEM Holdings is an investment holding company that provides solutions in equipment systems; precision components; and plating and related manufacturing services for various industries. It is involved in the design and manufacture of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and related tooling parts, as well as automated machines and related parts for the semiconductor industry. In May last year, AEM Holdings carried out a 1 for 10 stock split. This saw the stock close 20 May 2015 at a price of 4.1 cents per share and began 21 May 2015 at a price of 41.0 cents per share. The stock ended 2015 at a price of 30.0 cents per share, and closed yesterday at a price of 45.0 cents per share. AEM Holdings also declared a 1 cent per share dividend on 23 February, which will go ex-dividend on 12 May 2016.

Avi-Tech Electronics provides burn-in, engineering, and manufacturing services for the semiconductor, electronics, and life sciences industries. Avi-Tech Electronics  carried out a 1 for 2 stock split on 18 November 2015, which saw the share price move from 10.4 cents per share to 20.0 cents per share. The stock ended 2015 at 21.0 cents per share and closed yesterday at 23.5 cents per share. The company also paid a special cash dividend of 1.4 cents per share on 15 February. On 12 February, the company also declared a 0.8 cents per share interim dividend that will go ex-dividend on 10 May 2016.

The 12 Singapore semiconductor stocks are tabled below, and are sorted according to market capitalisation. Clicking on a stock name will take you to its relevant page on StockFacts.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 11 April 2016)

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 11 April 2016)

As tabled above, over the last 12 months, there were seven gainers and five decliners in terms of total return. The five best performers over the period were Avi-Tech Electronics, Micro-Mechanics (Holdings), UMS Holdings, Sunright and Manufacturing Integration Technology.

Of the 12 Singapore semiconductor stocks, nine stocks have a recent policy of distributing dividends. The five highest yielding stocks have been CDW Holding (10.6%), UMS Holdings (8.4%), Smartflex Holdings (7.4%), Avi-Tech Electronics (5.8%) and Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) (5.1%). Together, these five stocks averaged a 7.5% dividend yield.