UMS shares up 8.2% on Q2 results as AEM gives up early gains; Frencken declines
UMS posts 89% higher second-quarter profit, but AEM shares reverse 5.1% gains and join Frencken in retreat
[SINGAPORE] Shares of UMS Integration jumped as much as 8.2 per cent on Friday (Aug 14) after it reported an 89 per cent surge in second-quarter net profit.
On Thursday, UMS posted a S$19.4 million net profit for the period, up from about S$10.3 million in the year-ago period. This came as revenue for the three months ended June rose 29 per cent to S$87.1 million.
UMS CEO Andy Luong cited the “strong artificial intelligence ‘super-cycle’ and sustained aviation boom worldwide” for the much-improved numbers.
The counter on Friday rose to as high as S$2.92 within four minutes of market open, but pared most of its gains by 10 am to be 1.9 per cent up at S$2.75.
Frencken, AEM decline
Fortunes were not as rosy for Frencken , which manufactures high-precision components, modules and complete sub-systems for multinational companies.
Its shares fell as much as 7.2 per cent, or S$0.20, to S$2.59 in the first minute of trading, after it reported a 3.4 per cent drop in first-half net profit on Thursday.
Among its customers are health technology company Philips and chipmaking equipment maker ASML.
Frencken’s administrative and general expenses widened 9.9 per cent year on year to S$32.6 million, while revenue dropped 0.8 per cent to S$427.8 million.
Bellwether chip stock AEM meanwhile reversed an initial climb on Friday, having risen 14 per cent the day before on a 10-times higher net profit of S$31 million for the half year ended Jun 30. The counter on Friday initially continued gaining, rising as much as 5.1 per cent, but was down 1.9 per cent at S$10.77 by 9.45 am.
AI-driven macroeconomic upgrade
The chip stocks’ Q2 earnings come amid a positive macroeconomic backdrop in Singapore.
The government on Tuesday upgraded its 2026 economic growth forecast for Singapore to a range of 4.5 to 5.5 per cent. This was up from the previous forecast of 2 to 4 per cent as an accelerating global boom in AI investment lifted the Republic’s prospects for the rest of the year.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew 1.4 per cent in Q2, underpinned by the manufacturing, wholesale trade, and finance and insurance sectors.
The government added that manufacturing output surged 12.5 per cent year on year, thanks to the electronics and precision engineering clusters, as global demand for AI-related semiconductors, including networking and memory chips, boosted production lines in Singapore.
