Maybank Research Pte Ltd
Date of Report: 18 September 2025

Singapore Market Update: Top Stock Picks and Sector Trends for Investors in 2025

Overview: Key Takeaways and Market Context

Singapore’s equity market continues to offer dynamic opportunities across sectors, with robust performances and strategic shifts among leading companies. This detailed analysis presents actionable insights, earnings projections, and sector trends from Maybank Research’s latest report, highlighting outperformers and market drivers for investors and analysts.

Top Equity Ideas: Leaders in Growth and Innovation

Food Empire Holdings: Capitalizing on Vietnam’s Coffee Boom

Food Empire Holdings (FEH) is rapidly scaling up its presence in Vietnam’s instant coffee market, now ranking as the third-largest player in the country. The company is set to achieve an estimated USD100 million in revenue from its Vietnam operations by FY2025, with continued innovation in product lines aimed at new market segments. Notably, FEH’s strategic pivot is expected to reduce its reliance on Russia, with incremental expansion into Southeast Asia, India, and Kazakhstan.

• Vietnam operations projected to deliver USD100m in FY2025 revenue.
• Third-largest instant coffee brand in Vietnam.
• Pipeline of product innovations targeting new consumer segments.
• Revenue diversification away from Russia toward SEA, India, and Kazakhstan.
• Recommendation: BUY with an increased target price of SGD2.92.

Sea Ltd: Transitioning from Scale to Monetization

Sea Ltd remains a standout in regional digital economy plays, with Shopee’s recent commission hikes (~1–1.5 percentage points) expected to be well absorbed, lifting adjusted EBITDA/GMV by 0.1–0.2 percentage points. Additional upside is anticipated from Shopee’s offline-to-online expansion and fintech (BNPL) initiatives. Garena, Sea’s gaming arm, continues to sustain its flagship Free Fire title through collaborations while ramping up new releases such as Delta Force and Free City. The adoption of AI is also driving cost efficiencies across the group.

• FY2025–27 EBITDA raised by 10–25%.
• Target price upgraded to USD238 (+16%).
• Valuations: 2.9x EV/sales, 24.1x EV/EBITDA, trading at a 13–35% growth-adjusted discount versus peers.
• Recommendation: BUY.

Market-Shaping News: Economic and Sector Updates

Singapore Exports: NODX Decline, But No Extended Downturn Expected

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 11.3% in August, marking the second consecutive month of contraction, predominantly due to non-electronics. However, electronic shipments, though down 6.5% year-over-year, rebounded sequentially to a four-month high. Other indicators, such as the PMI and US retail sales, suggest the downturn is not expected to be sharp or prolonged.

• GDP growth forecast maintained at 3.2% for 2025.
• 3M SORA projected at 1.3% by end-2025, 0.9% by end-2026.
• MAS expected to hold policy steady in October.

Marco Polo Marine: Securing Contracts and Expanding Fleet

Marco Polo Marine has secured contracts worth SGD100 million over the next three years, reflecting strong demand for its diversified fleet across high-growth sectors such as offshore oil & gas and renewable wind energy. The group’s specialized marine vessels, especially in North Asia, are seeing sustained demand, with new Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOV) and Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV) being deployed.

• Strong contract pipeline from Europe and China auctions for renewable wind energy vessels.
• Revenue from Taiwan remains subdued due to project phasing, but new CTVs and income from the CSOV “Wind Archer” are expected to support growth through FY2026.
• Completion of a fourth dry dock to boost shipyard capacity, with performance contributions anticipated from 4QFY25 and into FY26.
• Outlook: Positive.

Serial Achieva: Expanding into AI Cloud Services

Serial Achieva’s subsidiary, Achieva Cloud Services, has secured a USD22 million, three-year contract with a data centre provider to deliver AI cloud services. This entry marks a strategic move into the digital infrastructure and cloud storage market, positioning the group for growth in next-generation technology services.

• Contract value: USD22 million over three years.
• Entry into cloud storage, AI, and digital infrastructure segments.
• Outlook: Positive.

Singapore Airlines: Robust Passenger Performance, Mixed Cargo Trends

Singapore Airlines (SIA) maintained robust traffic across all routes in August 2025. Passenger traffic grew 5.4% year-over-year, outpacing the 2.7% increase in capacity, resulting in a 2.3 percentage point rise in passenger load factor (PLF) to 88%. SIA and Scoot posted monthly PLFs of 86.9% and 91.9%, respectively, carrying a combined 3.6 million passengers—up 9.4% from last year. On the cargo side, however, load growth lagged behind capacity expansion, leading to a decline in cargo load factor.

• Combined passenger growth outpaced capacity increases.
• Cargo load factor declined as capacity outgrew load growth (+0.5% YoY vs +2.3% capacity).
• Outlook: Neutral.

Conclusion: Investment Outlook and Key Themes

Singapore’s market landscape in late 2025 is marked by sectoral pivots and geographical diversification among leading listed companies. Food Empire Holdings is leveraging Vietnam’s growth, while Sea Ltd continues its transition to higher monetization and operational efficiency. Infrastructure and technology segments are buoyed by new contracts and expansion moves, and transport leaders like SIA are maintaining robust passenger metrics even as cargo faces headwinds.
For investors, the dominant themes include:

• Geographic and sector diversification as a hedge against macro headwinds.
• Ongoing innovation and digital transformation driving incremental upside.
• Resilient consumer demand in travel and digital services supporting growth stocks.

As always, investors are advised to consider their own objectives and seek professional advice, recognizing the volatility and complexity inherent in both the equity and structured products markets. Maybank Research continues to monitor these trends and will provide updates as market conditions evolve.