Seven Singapore Stocks Positioned to Capture Value-Unlocking Wave

The Discount Narrows

Singapore's equity market has long wrestled with a persistent problem: blue-chip conglomerates and property groups trading well below what their assets should fetch. That gap is closing. DBS Group Research points to a shift underway as companies execute asset sales at or above book value, validating conservative balance sheets that investors had dismissed.

The catalyst arrived in 2025 with the S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme, a government-backed initiative designed to deepen liquidity and encourage capital discipline. Since then, the narrative around value-unlocking has moved from boardroom theory to transaction reality. According to DBS, the market now rewards firms that can demonstrate a clear path to monetise underused holdings, simplify structures and return cash.

The bank has named seven companies at different stages of this cycle, arguing their share prices have yet to reflect execution progress. The list spans property developers, industrial conglomerates and telecommunications operators, all sitting on assets that could be redeployed or sold.

Three Phases of Value Release

DBS frames the process in three stages. The first is expectations, where management signals a strategic review and investors begin pricing in potential. The second is delivery, where tangible asset sales and restructuring validate the plan. The third is reward, when realised value flows back to shareholders through dividends, buybacks or re-rating.

Four companies sit in the expectations phase. UOL Group carries a target price of S$13, with DBS anticipating an update on the Marina Square redevelopment in the third quarter. The firm also sees potential in hotel or office portfolio securitisation, moves that could unlock value embedded in trophy holdings.

City Developments Ltd, priced at S$12 by the bank, is expected to unveil its strategic review in the third quarter. DBS flags accelerated asset recycling and a pivot toward capital-light, recurring income models as key triggers. The shift would mark a departure from the development-heavy playbook that defined the group's past.

Jardine Matheson, with a US$90 target, has outlined a US$500 million share buyback programme. DBS estimates around US$5 billion in disposal opportunities at the parent level, alongside improving sentiment around its Indonesian associate Astra. The conglomerate's sprawling portfolio across Asia has historically traded at a holding company discount, a gap the bank expects to narrow.

CapitaLand Investment, targeted at S$3.40, is recalibrating after its proposed merger with Mapletree collapsed. DBS sees scope for internal optimisation, including paring listed REIT stakes toward 15 per cent, spinning off Ascott and divesting balance-sheet assets in China. The moves would sharpen focus and free capital for higher-return deployment.

Execution Already Underway

Three names have advanced to the delivery phase. Keppel, targeted at S$13.30, has sold S$14.9 billion in non-core assets since October 2020. Its share price has tripled from that low. The group is now working through sales of Keppel South Central and M1, with DBS flagging a potential S$0.10 per share special dividend for FY2026. Faster scaling of digital infrastructure and its green-power data centre platform are also on the agenda.

Sembcorp Industries, priced at S$7.30, is set to benefit from the Alinta Energy acquisition and a new 600-megawatt plant due in the fourth quarter. The group plans to recycle capital out of China renewables and list Sembcorp Green Infra in India in early 2027. The IPO would provide a valuation benchmark for its renewables book, a segment the market has struggled to price.

Singtel, with a target of S$5.46, is in advanced talks on a 30 per cent stake sale in Optus and is exploring an IPO for its Singapore data centre unit Nxera. The telco is also trimming its Bharti Airtel holding and exiting Gulf Development, moves that would streamline a portfolio stretched across multiple geographies and asset classes.

DBS maintains a buy rating across all seven. The bank argues that markets reward tangible progress over promises, and that further execution will drive outperformance versus the Straits Times Index. Historical patterns support this view. Companies that have delivered on asset monetisation plans have seen sustained re-rating, while those that stalled have drifted back to discounts.

Capital Discipline as Competitive Edge

The broader theme reflects a maturing of Singapore's corporate culture. For years, conglomerates accumulated assets across property, logistics, energy and infrastructure, often with limited regard for return on equity. Low cost of capital and a preference for scale over profitability allowed this model to persist.

That calculus has changed. Rising interest rates, muted economic growth and activist investor pressure have made capital efficiency a priority. Boards are now asking whether holding an asset makes sense or whether selling it and returning cash would create more value. The answer, increasingly, is the latter.

The S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme has accelerated this shift by providing liquidity support and incentivising corporate actions. The result is a pipeline of asset sales, spin-offs and buybacks that was unthinkable a decade ago. DBS expects this pipeline to deepen as more firms recognise that unlocking value is not just a financial engineering exercise but a strategic imperative.

For investors, the opportunity lies in identifying companies early in the cycle and holding through execution. The risk is that management teams fail to deliver, leaving valuations stuck at discounts. DBS argues its seven picks have credible plans and the track record to execute, making them attractive re-entry points into a multi-year theme.