ASEAN Speaks

In this week’s ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan kicks off with the latest tailwinds driving Southeast Asia’s internet and telecom sectors.Hussaini, our TMT analyst, breaks down Sea Limited’s Shopee momentum and AI-driven gaming push, then explains why he’s bullish on Singapore Telecommunications and Indosat.Finally, Seng Yeow from our Quant team reviews Malaysia’s 2Q earnings season, highlighting positive market sentiment and key portfolio rebalancing signals.Edited by Shaina and Sheryl

In this week’s ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan looks at why Singapore continues to attract safe haven flows amidst regional uncertainty.Hussaini, our TMT analyst, shares why he thinks the telco sector still has more upside, with a new BUY on StarHub and higher target price on Singtel.Next, our transport analyst, Eric highlights ComfortDelGro’s latest CityCab deal, explaining why this could close the performance gap with other midcaps.Across the Causeway, Desmond wraps up 1H results for Malaysian banks and explains why “no bad news is good news” for the sector heading into 2H.Edited by Wanzhen & Shaina

In this week's ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan goes through the many tailwinds boosting Singapore's market.Brian comes in to talk about Singapore's recent jump in manaufacturing numbers and why the economics team is forecasting a potentially higher GDP growth for Singapore.Hussaini, our TMT analyst talks about Singtel's recent investor day and the key takeaways that he believes supports his reiteration of a BUY on Singtel.Focusing on Indonesia, Etta goes through why he believes GoTo share price is likely to double after GoTo posts their 1H numbers amidst the chaos happening in Indonesia currently.Jarick also comes on to highlight ISOTeam's FY25 earnings, their future prospects and expected rebound as well as on Marco Polo Marine's interest on listing in Taiwan.Edited by Bruce

In this week's episode Jarick Seet is stepping in for Thilan as today's host. Jarick opens today's episode by talking about how markets are currently fatigued from Trump's tariffs reflecting in investors' actions over the past week. Krishna comes on to talk about ST Engineering and why he believed fundamentally the stock looks weak explaining his downgrade to a HOLD.Jarick also explains his downgrade to a HOLD of Singapore Post where he believes management lacks the long-term strategy as a non-essential asset is being held on to. Jarick also goes through Marco Polo Marine and why he believes this quarter's earnings warrants the company another chance as the storm seems to have passed.Edited by Xuan Hao, Bruce

In this week's episode, Thilan highlights several stock picks amidst earnings seasons and a lot of tariff uncertainties as well as geopolitical issues. Jarick comes on to talk about his recent initiation Sanli Environmental which he believes will benefit largely from potential government contracts. Jarick also briefly goes through CSE Global's results and explains why it was inline with expectations.Hussaini comes on to the show to talk about Singtel and StarHub results and how the market consolidation post M1 acquisition by Simba will benefit the two main players in Singapore's telco space. He also goes through why he remains bullish on Sea Limited amidst another quarter of earnings beat and raise.Thilan goes through plantations and explains why despite less coverage, investors should not ignore the great set of results the sector has been seeing. He goes through First Resources, Bumitama Agri and Wilmar International.Edited by Xuan Hao, Lucia, Bruce

In this week’s episode of ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan kicks off with Jarick, who shares his take on Venture and how changes in the tech sector drives his upgrade to a BUY call. The conversation then moves to Singapore’s three big banks — DBS, UOB and OCBC — where Thilan looks at the differences in their results, the pressures on net interest margins, and what might be ahead for capital returns and loan growth. Krishna joins to discuss Sembcorp’s latest numbers and the key factors to watch going forward considering his downgrade to a HOLD.Thilan also covers SGX’s 1H25 results, he discusses why he remains bullish on SGX and why its valuation is justified when considering growth as compared to other exchanges.We then hear from Xuan Hao who is covering for Samuel Yin on Genting Singapore, with insights into what is driving Samuel's BUY call. Hussaini breaks down Simba’s plan to acquire M1’s telecom business for SGD 1.4 billion and the implications it has for the telco market which has been facing aggressive competition for the past few quarters.Edited by Xuan Hao, Lucia, Bruce

In this week’s episode of ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan unpacks the STI’s rebound after a six-day losing streak, supported by signs that Singapore may avoid major fallout from Trump’s new tariffs. He discusses how this could revive interest in domestic sectors like construction, safe-haven flows, and capital returns.Hussaini comes on to shares his views on Sheng Siong after a slower 2Q, and dives into Grab’s outlook, focusing on autonomous vehicles and their strategic potential across ASEAN.From Thailand, Boonyakorn initiates on Thai Airways as it resumes trading after five years, breaking down the turnaround, competitive risks, and his bullish call. Explaining why he expects a 200% upside.OCBC’s 2Q results come under the microscope, with Thilan explaining the cautious stance amid weakening net interest income and uncertain capital returns following the SGD1.4bn Great Eastern investment.Finally, Thilan highlights Capitaland Ascott Trust’s major Tokyo asset divestment at a 100% premium. He goes through why Krishna, our REITs analyst remains bullish as management maintains their outlook for the year.Edited by Lucia, Xuan Hao, Dion, Bruce

In this week’s episode of ASEAN Speaks, our host Seng Yeow welcomes Jarick to unpack MAS’s new $50bn EQDP programme and its potential to drive concentrated flows into non-index sectors.Jarick shares five BUY calls for the week: Food Empire Holdings, ISOTeam, ComfortDelGro, CSE Global, and Frencken, explaining why each is poised to benefit from raw material trends, sector positioning, and strong customer outlooks. He also breaks down the semiconductor sector, exploring the potential impact of US–Malaysia tariff talks.With results week approaching, Xuan Hao dives into the Singapore banking sector, previewing OCBC, DBS, and UOB regarding expected earnings and dividends.Thilan, Lucia, and Janel wrap up with highlights from the myimpact portfolio, showcasing a six-stock portfolio of top ESG performers with a focus on social factors in sustainable investing.Edited by Lucia, Xuan Hao, Dion, Bruce

In this week’s episode of ASEAN Speaks, our host Thilan breaks down the STI’s record-breaking 11-day rally—the longest in 20 years—and explores what could drive the next leg higher as MAS prepares to announce the first recipients of the EQDP fund.Hussaini initiates Sheng Siong on a BUY despite the 30% rally the stock has seen this year, and he also initiates on Thai Beverage, explaining why he is more neutral towards the stock. While on the Internet side, Hussain gives his preview of Grab maintaining his BUY on the stock.Jarick unveils his upgraded target for Frencken, which he now calls the top pick in Singapore tech. He also reiterates a BUY on CSE Global, highlighting strong order wins, margin expansion, and a compelling dividend story.Krishna initiates on Keppel DC REIT, riding the data centre wave. He breaks down what’s behind his bullish call and how global AI policy risks might affect the outlook.Edited by Lucia, Xuan Hao, Dion, Bruce

In this week's episode of ASEAN Speaks, our chief Economist, Hak Bin Chua talks about Trump tariffs, and what our region has in store in terms of economics for the second half of the year. Hussaini Saifee, our TMT analyst comes in to talk about recent developments regarding the recent restriction of AI chips exports and what it would mean for data centres in Malaysia and Thailand. Our analyst from Vietnam, Mi Nguyen, recently initiates on Masan Group (MSN VN) and she explains what the company does, what key drivers she expects to drive stock price higher and any risks that could effect the stock.Our host Thilan also goes through takeaways from the recent investment conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Invest ASEAN, where the management for 8 Singapore companies came along to share about their respective strategies. Thilan also goes through our 10 top picks for Singapore.Edited by Xuan Hao, Dion, Abdullah, Bruce