Jewellery retailer TLV Holdings shines on debut

SINGAPORE — Taka Jewellery’s retail chain operator TLV Holdings, the second jeweller to list in Singapore this year, soared as much as 36.4 per cent on its trading debut today.

The shares, listed on the Catalist board, rose to as high as 30 cents from its initial public offering price of 22 cents to become the most actively traded counter. About 57 million shares changed hands before TLV ended the day at 28.5 cents. The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.9 per cent.

TLV’s performance is in stark contrast to jewellery retailer Soo Kee Group’s debut last month. Shares of Soo Kee, which opened at its initial public offering (IPO) price of 30 cents each, plunged 18.3 per cent on heavy selling amid weak broad market sentiment, making it the worst first-day performance on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) this year.

TLV Holdings sells jewellery in local and international markets through retail and wholesale channels. It has a local network of 19 retail outlets under the Taka Jewellery and Lovis Diamonds brands, and conducts its wholesale business through participation in exhibitions across Asia, US, Europe and the Middle East.

The listing of TLV Holdings brings the total number of consumer sector companies on the SGX to 161, with a combined market capitalisation of S$128 billion. Following the listing, there are 165 companies listed on Catalist with a total market capitalisation of over S$9 billion.

The SGX has suffered a dearth of IPOs with only eight Catalist board listings this year. In comparison, regional rival Hong Kong has seen 63 IPOs this year, Bloomberg reported. Securities trading on the SGX has also remained subdued, with the average value of shares traded daily standing at S$1.2 billion in the three months ended June 30, little changed from the S$1.17 billion registered in the previous quarter.

The benchmark Straits Times Index has lost nearly 14 per cent this year, as funds continued to flee the region’s markets amid concerns over a United States rate hike and after China devalued the yuan last month.