The Singapore stocks to watch amid Trump and Kim's historic meet

Armed police officers stand guard outside the Shangri-La Hotel where US President Donald Trump isl staying ahead of the US-North Korea summit in Singapore on June 12. PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - There is more than one way to play the Trump-Kim summit in the world of stocks. Apart from the obvious North Asian and US equities that may be impacted by the outcome of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's meeting, there is another geography investors can consider: Singapore.

Its consumer stocks to be precise. The city-state's Sentosa Island will host the historic summit on Tuesday (June 12), where Trump aims to persuade the North Korean dictator to give up his country's nuclear arsenal in exchange for relief from US economic sanctions.

While heightened security during the event could disrupt both tourist and local spending, hotels and restaurants still stand to benefit from the sheer number of visitors, and positive sentiment could spill over into the medium term, some analysts say. The event should generate "a hoohah" in Singapore, and "tourism as well as the consumer sector will likely see a lift" thanks to the influx of international media, said Jarick Seet, head of small- and mid-cap research at RHB Research Institute Singapore.

Shares of Shangri-La Asia, which trades in Singapore and Hong Kong, advanced last week as more summit details emerged, including Singapore's public order establishing a special zone around its flagship hotel for the summit. The event is scheduled to take place at the Capella hotel in Sentosa, which also houses Genting Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa integrated resort.

Here is a look at the consumer shares that might stand to benefit from the event:

Hotels: Shangri-La Asia, Genting Singapore, Hotel Properties, Amara Holdings, CDL Hospitality Trusts, Far East Hospitality Trust, Ascott Residence Trust and OUE Hospitality Trust could be impacted. These companies own hotels in Singapore popular with business travellers.

Food & beverage: Jumbo Group and No Signboard Holdings have some of the most iconic seafood restaurants in Singapore, while Kimly and BreadTalk Group are home-grown brands with stores across the island.

Transport: ComfortDelGro Corp owns Singapore's largest taxi fleet. With thousands of visitors likely to be in town for the summit, it is inevitable that cabs will be in high demand. Singapore Airlines, South-east Asia's biggest airline, and Sats, provider of food solutions and services to the aviation sector, also stand to gain amid an influx of travellers for the event.

But OCBC Bank's head of research Carmen Lee is sceptical the event will benefit local equities.

"The summit is so short, it is unlikely to have any real impact on consumer stocks in June," she said. As some areas have been gazetted off, with stricter security measures, "it could be a slight negative", she added.

Lim Siew Khee, an analyst at CIMB-GK Securities, shares the view that the summit will probably boost consumer and tourism-related stocks in the medium term as it sets the stage for such events in the future. This meeting "reaffirms Singapore as a preferred choice of venue for a high-profile, global summit and arbitration hub", Lim wrote in a June 7 report.

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