The Straits Times Index ended
2016 at the same level it started. After dipping to 2,500 in the January and
February, the index recovered to 2,880. This was despite a Trump election
victory, which many in US media and Asia expected an end-of-the-world scenario.
The portfolio gained 28.0%, ending
the three year streak of underperformance against the STI. Excluding dividends,
it would have gained 24.4%. Most of my holdings advanced in price. This was
unsurprising given their previous years losses. The biggest percentage loser
was Hong Leong Finance. The finance stock lost 8.2% in price. This was followed
by F&N, down 2.8%.
Colex and Super Group each post slightly more
than 50% year on year increase in share price. Colex remains a very thinly
traded stock. Super Group on the other hand, was boosted by the acquisition of
the Dutch firm JDE. This will eventually lead to the privatisation of the
company.
The portfolio cost now stands at 111.5K and I
am in the black by 14%. I collected dividends of 2.3k, excluding the capital
reduction paid out by Delfi, and this implies a yield-to-cost of 2.0% which is poor.
For CY2017, my yield to cost will likely drop given the poor outlook and that
Super Group is put in the freezer.
For CY2017, I intend to buy another 10k plus
any remaining cash in the portfolio, just before or after Chinese New Year. I
will also need to be on the lookout for places to park the monies eventually received
from the delisting of Super Group. I expect the market to go up by at least 5%
12 months down the road. That said, I expect the local economy to be very weak
in the coming 6 months. The oil and gas and property sector are not doing well
and I cannot see any drivers of growth coming from international trade.
